Major social landlord recovers 179 social homes after tenancy fraud crackdown
One of the largest social landlords in the country, L&Q, has recovered 179 social homes in less than two years following an investment in its capacity to tackle tenancy fraud.
L&Q said that, based on each case costing the taxpayer roughly £43,000, it had saved the public purse more than £7.5m. Some 583 people entitled to social housing have also been provided with homes in the last year as a result of its actions.
From being one of the lowest performing G15 members in tackling tenancy fraud, it has now become the best performing landlord in the network.
L&Q said it began capturing data in January 2022, when it created a team of four investigators and a manager, with a background in legislation, regulation and all aspects of tenancy fraud.
From Jan 2022 to Sep 2023, the housing association received 1,364 referrals, all of which had desktop investigations completed at a minimum.
The team undertook 320 out of hours visits to homes identified as fraud risks, conducted more than 27 interviews with half under caution, served 78 notices, and issued four unlawful profit orders totalling almost £165,000.
Fraud risks in this area include unlawful subletting of social housing homes, making a false statement to obtain a home, false succession applications and fraudulently submitting a Right to Buy/Right to Acquire application.
Research published by the Fraud Advisory Panel and Tenancy Fraud Forum earlier this year revealed that at least 148,000 social homes could be subject to some form of tenancy fraud.
Nicola Evans, Tenancy Fraud Manager at L&Q and Chair of the G15 Fraud group, said: “Amid a housing crisis with 1.2 million on the waiting list including over 100,000 people in temporary accommodation, every single social home has become extremely precious.
“L&Q has been stepping up efforts to prevent people from profiting from the scarce resource that is social housing. It’s always been there, but we have become more sophisticated and put more resources into combatting the issue.”
Evans said L&Q’s investment had held those responsible accountable and freed up homes for those in genuine need of housing.
L&Q revealed that tools at its disposal include statutory measures such as working with the police and local authorities to take legal action against fraudsters and a robust policy and procedural framework, including regular training for front line and back-office colleagues in how to identify, investigate and respond to fraud effectively.
The landlord said recent successes included catching an offender who was unlawfully subletting his home via his own letting agency, exposing an illegitimate disrepair claim after the resident denied access to his home, and winning a court case against a resident illegally subletting his Newham home whilst claiming Housing Benefit. This property was repossessed, and the resident received a court order to pay back more than £100,000 of illegal profits.
Harry Rodd
