Basildon repossesses homes after crackdown on fraud

Basildon Borough Council has repossessed 12 council homes worth more than £1m, after a crackdown on housing fraud.

This began in May by allowing a two week amnesty for people to admit that council properties had been illegally sublet.

Since then 75 cases reported by the public have been investigated, 14 of which are likely to see legal action.

Phil Turner, cabinet member for resources, said: “We did something very unusual by starting this crackdown with a two week amnesty. That was a chance for fraudsters to come clean without facing court action.

“This created a lot of publicity and it seems that when the excitement died down, there were people committing housing fraud who assumed they had slipped through the net. This was simply not the case.”

He said the recovered homes would be used to house people from the council’s 4,597-strong waiting list.