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Wiltshire Council launches amnesty for tenants who are illegally subletting (18 January 2016)

Date: 18/01/2016
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Wiltshire Council launches amnesty for tenants who are illegally subletting

Wiltshire Council is currently holding an amnesty for tenants who are subletting their homes illegally.

Under the housing fraud amnesty, tenants have until 10 February to hand in the keys to their properties, with no questions asked.

The aim is to free up illegally sublet homes, in order to provide more homes to people on the council housing waiting list.

Wiltshire Council is holding the amnesty from 11 January to 10 February before it begins a major clampdown on tenancy fraud, using the latest software to help identify culprits.

Wiltshire Council won government investment to launch data matching technology to identify housing tenancy fraud.

The sophisticated tenancy profiling software called "Who's Home" was rolled out across the council's housing stock in September 2015 – and identifies where council properties are occupied by someone other than the legitimate council tenant.

The council says there are already a number of cases being investigated – as well as initial intelligence gathering, evaluation and risk assessment of matches.

Social housing tenants may be prosecuted for not occupying their home as their main residence – and illegally subletting parts or the whole of their home.

Any tenants found illegally subletting their council homes could face up to two years in prison, an unlimited statutory fine – and will also have to repay any profits they have made from illegal subletting.

There are more than 17,500 social housing properties in Wiltshire, with 5,319 of those owned by Wiltshire Council.

Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for finance, Dick Tonge, said:

“People subletting homes illegally are depriving another family of a permanent place to stay.

“We are giving those committing this crime a month to hand in keys, with no questions asked – after that, we will start our clampdown on this unfair practice, which can deprive genuine families and individuals of a permanent place to stay.”

Tenancy fraud is committed if people give false information about themselves or use false documents when applying for housing – or if they apply to succeed to a tenancy of someone who has died, when they do not qualify, by submitting false information.

Tenancy fraud also involves people who have a social housing tenancy already, but live somewhere else – or if a tenant sublets the whole or part of their home to someone else, without the consent of their landlord.

Wiltshire Council said that anyone who hands in their keys to end their tenancy during the amnesty will not have legal action taken against them –
and the council can re-let the properties to legitimate applicants on the housing register.

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