Council crackdown on housing tenancy fraud reveals fraudsters in Dubai, NZ
A local authority’s crackdown on housing tenancy fraud traced fraudsters as far afield as Dubai, Tanzania and New Zealand, it has been revealed.
The London Borough of Harrow said it had established nine case of tenancy fraud in the current financial year, on top of ten the previous year.
The council said formal agreements had been reached to terminate four additional properties in the next month. A further 26 cases are also under investigation.
Fraudsters have been traced across England – in Luton, Kent, Sunderland and Leeds – as well as overseas.
Harrow said £162,000 had been saved through the work by its corporate anti-fraud and housing management teams to recover social housing properties that were being unlawfully sublet.
The council conducts a number of no-notice inspections as well as spot checks following the receipt of fraud intelligence.
Harrow’s Housing Manager, Karen O’Connell, said: “People who commit housing tenancy fraud have a real ‘catch me if you can’ attitude. They think it is too hard for councils to prove or councils don’t have the time or capability of unearthing their fraud. That is simply not the case.
“They tell us ‘see you in court’. They know it’s illegal but they’re prepared to fight tooth and nail, hoping we’ll give up. But we never will. We are leading the way in Harrow but the cases we have successfully prosecuted are the tip of the iceberg.”
The council highlighted one case where a council tenant was found to be living in a house she had bought in Luton, whilst allowing a friend and the family to occupy the council property.
She initially claimed to be living in the home, but caved in when presented with financial evidence showing she lived in Luton.
Other cases uncovered by Harrow included:
- A woman who applied to buy her council house at a discounted right under the Right to Buy scheme even though she was not living there. The idea had been suggested by her property developer daughter; and
- A couple who engaged in unlawful subletting of a small council house, were no longer living in the property and had recently inherited a house worth £3.5m.
Harrow’s Portfolio Holder for Performance, Customer Services and Corporate Services, Cllr Graham Henson, said: “Unlawfully obtaining social housing properties prevents financially vulnerable people from being housed and costs taxpayers hundreds of thousands each year through emergency accommodation costs and benefits.”
