4 October 2023

Regional Tenancy Fraud Awareness Week 2023

Regional Tenancy Fraud Awareness Week 2023

Councils and housing providers across the North East of England are joining forces to fight social housing fraud, which is depriving families and vulnerable people getting the homes they need.

North East Tenancy Fraud Forum
Body

Six councils and nine social housing providers are working together to run Regional Tenancy Fraud Awareness Week 2023, from 9 to 13 October.  And they are urging anyone who suspects a case of tenancy fraud to report it in confidence so that further checks can be made.

Members of the forum work year-round to tackle suspected social housing fraud. Collectively, in 2022-23 they recovered 69 properties which were the subject of suspected fraudulent activity. The homes were then used to house people in genuine need of a home.

Amy Hodgson, chair of the regional North East Tenancy Fraud Forum, said: “The National Tenancy Fraud Forum calculate that the average cost to the taxpayer per detected tenancy fraud in the UK is £42,000 per property. This means that during the financial year 2022 to 2023, with the help of our residents, our fraud teams have been able to save the region £2.9 million (based on the national average).

A further 144 Right to Buy and Right to Acquire sales have been stopped through enhanced verification and anti-money laundering checks, saving the region an additional £5.4 million in discounts”

Tenancy fraud occurs when a council home is not occupied by the named tenant or is sublet, when a home has been obtained by deception, or when succession has been wrongly claimed following the death of the lawful tenant. 

Anyone suspecting tenancy fraud in Newcastle can report their concerns in confidence online at https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/fraud. You can also e-mail fraud@newcastle.gov.uk or call the Fraud Hotline on 0191 277 1166.

In common with many other parts of the country, the Northeast has a shortage of social housing and high numbers of people waiting for more suitable accommodation. The members of the NorthEast Tenancy Fraud Forum are working hard to provide more affordable housing but are also working hard to make sure that only the people entitled to housing are given council tenancies.

James Mackie, chair of the North East Tenancy Fraud Forum said: “Tenancy fraud is not a victimless crime and those that commit fraud and lie to gain access to our social housing do so at the expense of those in very real and genuine need. 

“We take housing fraud very seriously and we will fully investigate every report of illegal subletting and tenancies obtained by deception. It is completely unfair that residents in desperate need of housing cannot have a home because of others abusing the system.

“If you are aware of someone trying to improve their position on the housing application list register by giving false information, or you are made aware of a property being misused, it is really important that you please let us know about it.”

The North East Tenancy Fraud Forum membership includes registered social landlords and local authorities from across the North East:  Northumberland, Gateshead, Newcastle, Durham, South Tyneside and North Tyneside councils, believe housing, Johnnie Johnson, Home Group, North Star, Living Housing, Gentoo Group, Karbon Homes, The Guinness Partnership and Your Homes Newcastle.

Tenancy Fraud in Newcastle

Is this page useful?
Is this page useful?