London borough receives 275 referrals of alleged housing fraud in single year
Tower Hamlets Council has revealed that its Anti-Fraud Team received 275 referrals of alleged housing fraud in the last year.
In one the council was given an anonymous tip off about a tenant who illegally bought and sub-letted a council property.
Following the tip off, an investigation revealed the tenant fraudulently applied for a council house as he was already a homeowner. The tenant then used the council house for short term rentals, Tower Hamlets said.
It added that the individual was charged with fraud and ordered to pay a fine of £175,000.
Thirty-three social housing properties were meanwhile recovered from tenants that had breached the terms and conditions of their tenancy and seven right to buy applications were stopped. One criminal conviction was made.
In addition to the above the Anti-Fraud Team was able to:
- Reject 124 insurance claims totalling a value of £77,730
- Issue two profit orders totalling £267,207.51
- Seize 105 Blue Badges
- Investigate 38 internal referrals of alleged fraud breaches of staff Code of Conduct
Tower Hamlets said the team had handed out fines of £340,000 to fraudsters in the borough.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: “As a borough with a population growing at a faster rate than the rest of the country, availability of good quality and affordable social housing is a major concern. Housing fraud is not a victimless crime, especially when we have over 20,000 people on our housing list.”
Cllr Saied Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Cost of Living and Resources, added: “Stamping out fraud is everyone’s responsibility and is something we take very seriously. Our fraud team has a proven track record of working with local and national agencies to protect the public purse and bring about prosecutions. Residents can contact us confidentially to tell us about properties you think might be illegally occupied and we’ll investigate to ensure they are allocated to the people who need them most.”
