Research on tenancy fraud estimates 148,000 homes fraudulently occupied

A new report by the Tenancy Fraud Forum (TFF) and Fraud Advisory Panel (FAP) has claimed that 148,000 social housing homes in England are fraudulently occupied.

In London, one in 20 social homes are thought to be affected social housing fraud, the TFF said. Outside the capital, one in 30 social homes are thought to be subject to tenancy fraud.

The report’s findings also suggest that the amount of tenancy fraud detected fell by 50% between 2013/14 and 2019/20, following the abolition of the Audit Commission in 2015.

The report pointed to a ‘detection deficit’, noting: “The government chose not to continue publishing local authority tenancy fraud detection data after 2014. The Regulator of Social Housing still chooses not to collect it for housing associations. These are decisions with which we profoundly disagree.”

The report claimed that between 2013/14 and 2019/20, 76% of tenancy frauds went undetected in England.

It also found that the number of homeless families in temporary accommodation went up by 55% in the same period.

Alan Bryce, Tenancy Fraud Forum Non-Executive Committee Member and Interim Head of the Fraud Advisory Panel, who authored the report, said: “Our research across England paints a depressing picture of public waste, missed opportunities, with both a lack of data and accountability, but this is not the worst of it. Evidence of a weakening commitment and limited efforts to adopt good practice in managing tenancy fraud risk by many local authorities and housing associations has resulted in a significant ‘detection deficit’.

“Social housing is for those in genuine need, not for fraudsters to exploit for their own personal gain. It is time government, the Regulator of Social Housing and housing providers, to show leadership and take long overdue action."

Bryce added: “If good practice had been widely adopted since 2015, levels of detected tenancy fraud might have doubled, but instead our research demonstrates they have halved, leading to a significant cost to the public purse as nearly 150,000 social homes are exploited and misused for criminal gain. Our research makes grim reading for social housing providers, central government and the Regulator of Social Housing, as well as the tens of thousands of homeless families in temporary accommodation, due in no small part to the continued failure to tackle the problem.”

Katrina Robinson MBE, Chair of the Tenancy Fraud Forum, said: “While this report cannot begin to fill the data chasm between social housing stakeholders and a calibrated fraud response, we hope our research will start to build a bridge to reignite the social housing fraud debate and directly help to tackle the housing difficulties faced by thousands of people. Without the support of central government and the regulator, the problem will only get worse, so it’s up to us to do everything we can to raise awareness of the issue and what can be done to tackle it.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson