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07/04/2014
Govt Closes In On Tenancy Cheats
Housing Minister Kris Hopkins has warned tenancy fraudsters that the net is closing in on those who con taxpayers out of money and deny hard-working families the opportunity to live in a council home.
Mr Hopkins said that life was about to get much tougher for those who illegally sublet or make false applications for social homes or for the Right to Buy, giving councils more powers at their disposal to identify and root out tenancy fraudsters.
The new measures will enable councils to access information about people suspected of tenancy fraud from banks, building societies, utility and telecommunication companies, which could be essential in identifying and prosecuting cheats and freeing up homes for the families that deserve them.
Across England, it is estimated that 98,000 social homes are being unlawfully occupied, with those tenancy cheats sub-letting living off the profits elsewhere. In some inner London boroughs, cases of social housing fraud are as high 1 in 20 properties. This could be costing taxpayers as much as £1.8bn a year.
The new powers are part of the wider government push to tackle fraud across local government with over £35m being invested to improve councils' ability to identify and tackle the problem.
As part of the crackdown, the government is investing £19m to help councils to fight against tenancy fraud. As a result, councils have recovered more than twice as many homes per year than in 2009. Today's measures will help them step up their efforts further.
Minister Hopkins said: "Anyone who is committing social housing fraud should know that the net is closing in on them. These new powers will help expose the cheats conning councils and ripping off taxpayers and free up more homes for the families that really need them.
"This government is taking the fight to fraudsters. We have already given councils £19 million to root out tenancy fraud, more than doubling the annual number of social homes recovered and we have made sure that rather than getting a little rap on the knuckles these fraudsters could face time in jail."
(CD)
Mr Hopkins said that life was about to get much tougher for those who illegally sublet or make false applications for social homes or for the Right to Buy, giving councils more powers at their disposal to identify and root out tenancy fraudsters.
The new measures will enable councils to access information about people suspected of tenancy fraud from banks, building societies, utility and telecommunication companies, which could be essential in identifying and prosecuting cheats and freeing up homes for the families that deserve them.
Across England, it is estimated that 98,000 social homes are being unlawfully occupied, with those tenancy cheats sub-letting living off the profits elsewhere. In some inner London boroughs, cases of social housing fraud are as high 1 in 20 properties. This could be costing taxpayers as much as £1.8bn a year.
The new powers are part of the wider government push to tackle fraud across local government with over £35m being invested to improve councils' ability to identify and tackle the problem.
As part of the crackdown, the government is investing £19m to help councils to fight against tenancy fraud. As a result, councils have recovered more than twice as many homes per year than in 2009. Today's measures will help them step up their efforts further.
Minister Hopkins said: "Anyone who is committing social housing fraud should know that the net is closing in on them. These new powers will help expose the cheats conning councils and ripping off taxpayers and free up more homes for the families that really need them.
"This government is taking the fight to fraudsters. We have already given councils £19 million to root out tenancy fraud, more than doubling the annual number of social homes recovered and we have made sure that rather than getting a little rap on the knuckles these fraudsters could face time in jail."
(CD)
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