Tenancy fraud could exist in 1 in 30 social housing properties, claims research

Potential tenancy fraud – such as unlawful subletting – could exist in as many as one in 30 social housing properties, research has claimed.

Information services company Experian analysed 125,000 arrangements at 10 UK local authorities and housing associations, located in both rural and urban areas.

The study, which involved data matching exercises, suggested that potential fraud could exist within a minimum of 3.1% of those properties.

If extrapolated across the UK, this means that fraudulent occupancy could exist at some 157,077 properties.

This would be three times the level of tenancy fraud estimated by the Audit Commission in its Protecting the Public Purse report published in 2009.

Experian claimed that the total cost to the taxpayer could be as high as £2bn.

The research looked for data that would warrant further investigation, such as the number of tenants not currently occupying their tenancy address and found living at another address.

Experian Director Nick Mothershaw said: “Our initial research suggests that the level of social housing tenancy fraud in Britain could be much higher than previously estimated.

“Reducing social housing tenancy fraud will significantly reduce the cost of temporary accommodation which we estimate at over £2 billion a year.”