Housing fraud
Our commitment to fighting fraud
We follow procedures to validate the identity of all new tenants when they move in to a property. We also routinely check existing tenancies to make sure the people living in our properties are entitled to be there.
What is housing fraud?
- Renting out or subletting without permission - The person who the property is rented to moves out and profits by charging someone else a higher rent.
- Not using the property as a principal home - Someone has a council property that they don’t live in all the time. They may stay with their partner.
- Not telling the truth when applying for a property - Where someone gets a council property by giving false information in their application, or their application for a right-to-buy or mutual exchange.
- Wrongly claiming a tenancy from someone who has died - Where someone tries to succeed to a tenancy after the tenant’s death when they’re not eligible. This often involves falsely claiming to have lived with the deceased tenant before their death.
How you can help
If you suspect that someone is committing housing fraud we want to know about it. Any information you give us will be treated in confidence. You don’t have to give us your name unless you want to.