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Tenancy fraud
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Across the UK thousands of housing association and council homes are occupied by someone who's obtained the tenancy fraudulently.
We take tenancy fraud very seriously. If we find evidence of fraud, we will take action to regain possession of the property involved. The fraudster may also receive a jail sentence and be ordered to pay a fine. Our neighbourhood officers carry out regular checks and we work with councils and other community partners to detect and investigate fraud in all our neighbourhoods. If you suspect tenancy fraud, please let us know. It could make a big difference to people in real need. Just click here to send us an email. Any information we receive will be taken seriously and treated in the strictest confidence.
What is tenancy fraud?
There are several different types of housing fraud, including:
- Unlawful subletting: where a customer lets out their home without the knowledge or permission of their landlord. They often continue to pay rent for the property, but charge the person they are subletting to a much higher rate. It is unlawful and unfair to sublet and/or to profit from a property which could be given to someone legally entitled to occupy it.
- Obtaining housing by deception: this is where a person gets a home by giving false information in their application, for example not telling the landlord they are renting another council or housing association property or giving false information about who lives with them.
- Wrongly claimed succession: where a tenant dies and someone tries to take over a tenancy they are not entitled to. For example, they might say they lived with the tenant before they died, when in fact they were living elsewhere.
- Key selling: where a tenant is paid to pass on their keys in return for a one-off payment.