Twenty six housing scammers have been caught out by a London council.
Officers from the Hammersmith & Fulham authority halted schemes that would have involved over £475,000 worth of fraud being carried out by occupants of flats that had been sub-let by social housing tenants.
In one case, the team received a tip off about someone illegally sub-letting their three-bedroom property in Fulham. They found out the tenant was living in East London and their bank statements had rent payments from family members who were living in the SW6 property.
The tenant gave up the property before going to court because of the significant evidence against them.
In the last year, over 25 properties have been recovered thanks to the Anti-Fraud Team. Now, these are all home to families in genuine need, the council claims.
A spokesperson for the council says: “We will not tolerate people exploiting council homes in this way. Our council homes are there to support residents in genuine need. We will not stop in our fight against housing fraudsters as we make H&F a stronger, safer, kinder place. We’ll continue rooting out fraud wherever it hides, so that families waiting patiently and rightfully have a safe place to call home.”
FRED (Fraud, Error and Recovery Hub) is a new programme launched by the council to help tackle fraud. It uses data-matching and automation to investigate cases more efficiently.
FRED has already helped flag 70 possible cases of tenancy fraud. Its software can identify tenants who may have passed away, moved into care or are living elsewhere.
This article is taken from Landlord Today