Tenancy fraud

We take tenancy fraud very seriously as there aren’t enough social housing homes for the people who need them. People committing tenancy fraud are breaking the law and breaching their tenancy agreement. They’re also causing even longer waits for those entitled to live in social housing.

What is tenancy fraud?

The most common forms of tenancy fraud are:

Unlawful subletting – where the tenant doesn’t live in the property, they rent it to someone else.
Obtaining housing by deception – using false information to gain a social housing property.
Key selling – when a tenant sells their keys to someone for a lump sum payment.
Wrongly claimed succession – when a tenant dies, there are rules about what should happen with the tenancy. Wrongly claimed succession is when someone who is not entitled under the rules 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.
Abandonment – when a tenant abandons their home and hasn’t told us that they’re not returning to the property.
False Right to Buy / Right to Acquire – when a tenant makes a Right to Buy or Right to Acquire application and gives false information.

How to spot tenancy fraud?

Why is tenancy fraud important?

All tenancy fraud is illegal. You could go to prison or receive a fine of up to £5,000.
1.15 million people are currently on the waiting list for a social home in the UK. Tenancy fraud means those in need can’t get the homes they deserve.
People can unknowingly be victims of illegal subletting. If someone sub-lets their social home, the tenant living in the property will be paying significantly more for the house than the housing association or council is charging the ‘landlord’ for the property.
Tenancy fraud contributes to 1 billion pounds worth of public spending every year.
If a disaster such as a fire occurs, there will be no record of who lives in the property.

How can you help prevent tenancy fraud?

Tenancy Fraud

Report Tenancy Fraud