I blogged before about the case for making sub-letting of social housing a criminal offence. Housing minister John Healey has now said he wants ‘to deter those who are thinking of making a fast buck from council housing’ by allowing councils to chase tenants subletting fraudulently through the criminal as well as the civil courts.
Breaking a tenancy agreement by subletting a social property is currently only a civil offence, meaning offenders can just lose their tenancy. Making it a criminal offence would allow social landlords to pursue offenders through the criminal courts, meaning they could be fined and ordered to repay any profits.
‘Tenancy cheats cannot be allowed to hang onto the council houses they don’t need,’ said Mr Healey. ‘By unlawfully subletting these properties for a profit they deprive families of the homes they need.’
Mr Healey announced a crack down on subletting in November, including a £4 million grant to help councils set up anti-fraud initiatives and a £500 reward for people providing information leading to the recovery of a sub-let home.
The government has given councils and housing associations 27,000 leads to potential tenancy cheats, uncovered through data sweeps by the Audit Commission where tenancy records are cross-referenced with housing benefit and electoral records.
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