Housing fraud

Help us stop housing cheats

If you suspect someone is living in a council home without the right to be there please share your suspicions with us. It could make a real difference.

Call our confidential fraud line on 0208 760 6545.

All reports will be treated with the strictest confidence and can be made anonymously.

Housing cheats jump the queue for housing and stop families and vulnerable people on our waiting list from getting housed. This is not fair. They occupy valuable housing spaces which deprives those in greater need. By doing so they are guilty of housing fraud.

What is housing fraud?

There are different types of housing fraud; here are the most common:

Unlawful subletting

When a tenant lets out their council or housing association home without the knowledge or permission of their landlord they are unlawfully subletting.

They often continue to pay rent for the property directly to us, but charge the person they are subletting to a much higher rate. It is not fair to sublet and to profit from a property which could be given to someone in greater need.

Obtaining housing by deception

When a person gets a council or housing association home by giving false information in their application, for example not telling us they are renting another council or housing association property, they are committing housing fraud.

Wrongly claimed succession

When a tenant dies, there are clear rules that say who can continue the tenancy.

Wrongly claimed succession is when someone who is not entitled tries to take over the tenancy. For example, they might say they lived with the tenant before they died, when in fact they were living elsewhere.

Sometimes illegally occupied homes can become attractions for drug dealing, crime and anti-social behaviour. We want to put a stop to this as well.

What can you do to help?

We are working hard to track down cheats and ensure that homes are given to those who are the next in line.

Your help in reporting housing fraud is important because you can see what's going on in your neighbourhood.

• You might know that somebody has another home we don't know about or has given false information in their housing application.
• You might suspect someone of housing fraud, having seen them collect rent from your neighbours.
• You might be suspicious because the tenants of a property keep changing.

If you think someone is living in a council home without the right to be there please call our confidential fraud line on 0208 760 6545.