Tenancy Fraud
Tenancy Fraud
We provide affordable housing for some of the
most vulnerable people in our society so when someone abuses this
provision we take it very seriously. Tenancy fraud may
prevent an eligible household in need of accommodation from being
housed. We know that tenancy fraud may be accompanied by
other issues such as anti-social behaviour, illegal immigration,
drug cultivation and other illegal activities. It can also
result in tenants who are living in a sublet property being
seriously overcrowded which can do damage to both their health and
the fabric of the home.
Affinity Sutton is one of only a handful of
housing associations to employ a dedicated team to investigate
tenancy fraud. Since January 2010, we have funded our own
dedicated Neighbourhood Auditor team to investigate allegations of
tenancy fraud and so far this year has already recovered 41
properties, beating last year’s total of 33. We have a
dedicated fraud hotline and participate in the National Fraud
Initiative
We believe it is important to have a range of
approaches to tackle tenancy fraud and although we acknowledge the
possibility of pursuing civil action to recover unlawful profit,
this will only be a realistic option in a few select cases.
Where necessary we take court action against
those committing tenancy fraud and have been successful in
recovering costs. In addition to dealing with the
perpetrators of tenancy fraud we work with local authorities to
help the victims of unlawful subletting to seek suitable
housing.
Funding to combat tenancy fraud is currently
paid solely to Local Authorities and is un-ringfenced. This
results in inconsistency across our stock and given that half of
social housing is managed by housing associations we believe that
housing associations should be funded directly to enable them to
investigate tenancy fraud. This would encourage more associations
to work together (something we are doing in Bromley and Hertsmere)
and persuade more large associations to take part in the National
Fraud Initiative.
Find out what we think of the Government's
proposals to criminalise subletting - when Richard Bellis, our Head
of Supported Housing (London), was interviewed on BBC Radio Five
Live