Council Tenants Making a Profit
Local authorities are aware that hundreds of council homed tenants are making large profits by illegal means. These tenants are subletting their council homes to other tenants and in some cases are earning themselves over twenty thousand pounds in a year. In an effort to combat this, ministers have announced a crackdown on illegal subletting.
These fraudster tenants are moving out of their council homes and then setting up tenants of their own and in some districts, it is believed that a handful of tenants have moved around local authorities and are in fact subletting more than one or two homes. Some tenants have even bought a new home or are renting privately elsewhere. This illegal activity is costing taxpayers millions of pounds every year.
Hotlines are in the process of being set up which will enable whistleblowers to call and give information on tenants they believe are subletting. The local councils will be encouraging tenants to blow the whistle on anyone they feel is letting illegally. Once someone has been reported, the council will have a hit squad which will obtain the necessary evidence required to stop all dealings. The illegal tenants will receive a court order and be evicted, although new housing will be looked into if they quality for council housing. The original tenant will lose any rights to be re-housed and will have to reimburse the council any rent owing.
National Database
A national database, which will be supplied to the Audit Commission in the autumn, is also being organised which will hold all the information on tenants of local councils and housing associations. It will hold their names and address details and this will enable the Audit Commission to cross reference it with the information they receive on tenants on housing benefit and from the UK Border Agency. Details have also been announced for a change in the allocation of council homes to ensure that those with the greatest need will receive priority.
The Housing Minister, Mr John Healey has estimated that the number of tenants nationally that are potentially subletting their houses or flats is in the region of over two hundred thousand. He said that these tenants are responsible for thousands of people being denied homes when they really need them.
Councils have even reported seeing adverts for their own properties to rent in the local newspapers. With over four million people waiting for housing, authorities are hopeful that they can free up to ten thousand homes sublet illegally by next year.
It is believed that the majority of these illegal transactions occur mainly in the larger inner City areas but no statistics have been released to confirm this.
