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Number of Fraudulent Council Housing Tenants Higher Than Expected, According To Home Office Figures (26 January 2012)

Date: 26/01/2012
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Number of Fraudulent Council Housing Tenants Higher Than Expected, According To Home Office Figures

According to the result of a recent study, as many as one in five council housing residents could be fraudulent. The results indicate that 750,000 tenancies may be fraudulent in England, exceeding the Government’s estimates of 50,000. Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister, believes that significant numbers of tenants are benefiting from the hugely subsidised rents that they then use to illegally sub-let the properties. Mr. Shapps stated that it was “completely unacceptable” for individuals to acquire a home that they did not require at subsidised rates to then rent out the home at the current market rate and make a profit from the difference.

Investigators cross-referenced the records of 27,000 tenants across two different councils and four housing associations. In 5,300 cases, “indications of fraud” were discovered in which tenants showed up as being in possession of active mortgages and recent credit reports and household billing statements at other locations. According to figures from the Home Office, there are approximately 3.8million homes in England owned by the council or a housing association, with 1.83 million individuals on housing waiting lists. Under their tenancy agreements, council tenants must use a council-owned home as their only home. They are forbidden to leave the property for a period exceeding 42 days in the absence of providing the council with a good reason for doing so and are prohibited from sub-letting the property, a civil offence. Mr. Shapps has told of how he desires to make sub-letting a council property a criminal offence.

Duncan Lewis’ housing law solicitors are able to support clients accused of sub-letting their council homes.

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