We need your help to catch the housing cheats

So, we’re asking you to help us catch the housing cheats to free up valuable council homes and save public money.

Housing fraud can include illegally subletting a council home or making a dishonest Right to Buy, housing or mutual exchange application. Not only does this deny those in most need from a home but is also a massive waste of public money. Each illegal subletting case alone, costs us around £42,000 per year.

The money we spend on investigating and prosecuting housing cheats, recovering and re-letting properties could be put to much better use improving your homes and neighbourhoods.

We rely on referrals and tip offs from the public to help us uncover housing fraud, so please be vigilant and use the online form to anonymously report any suspicious behaviour in your neighbourhood such as:

• New people coming and going from an empty property when you haven’t seen the council carrying out any works
• The tenant not being around or only appearing sporadically
• New car(s) parked outside or in designated parking spots
• More people going in and out of the property than usual
• Multiple large items such as furniture or white goods being moved in or out of the property
• More rubbish than usual
• Inappropriate numbers or ages of residents, e.g. a family in a one bed flat, a couple in a three-bed house or a young person in an over 60s block

We have a dedicated Housing fraud team who investigate, track down and prosecute housing cheats. The team recover more than one council home every month on average, which is then re-let to people on the waiting list. Those who break the law will not only lose their home and the right to reapply for housing in the future, but can also face a custodial sentence and have to repay any profits made illegally. Recently, a London council tenant was ordered to pay back £260,000 after fraudulently taking on a tenancy and then trying to buy the council home through Right to Buy (RtB), showing just how strong the penalties are.

As well as responding to reports of suspected fraud locally, we will also be participating in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) this October. The NFI is a Government-led counter-fraud scheme that matches and checks electronic data from public and private sector organisations for any anomalies to identify housing, benefit or pension fraud. This means we are required to upload data relating to current tenants, Right to Buy Applications and the housing waiting list so that the NFI can check for any discrepancies.