Fraud team recovers more properties than ever before to house people in need

On Wednesday 17 July, the Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT) published their annual fraud report to the council’s Audit and Governance Committee. Throughout the year, CAFT work with our Housing Officers to prevent and detect housing fraud that happens at the expense of the council, borough and the residents. 

In April 2023, a report by the Tenancy Fraud Forum and Fraud Advisory Panel estimated that 148,000 social housing homes in England are fraudulently occupied which is equivalent to a town the size of Middlesbrough. This puts a huge strain on local councils, leaving many people on lengthy housing waiting lists and increasing the risks of people becoming homeless because homes are not available to those who need them. 

Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, CAFT has achieved the following results:

• Recovered 47 properties where there is an allegation of tenancy fraud.
• 42 properties are awaiting civil legal court action.
• 14 properties are awaiting eviction.
• Refused 7 housing succession applications (which are included in the recovered properties mentioned above).
• Stopped 7 Right to Buy applications as a result of investigations, which equates to £767,640 in maximum discount savings.

Cllr Ahsan Khan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration, said “Waltham Forest Council takes the allegations of fraud extremely seriously and is committed to preventing, detecting and thoroughly investigating any fraud, corruption and dishonesty. Combatting housing fraud is high on our agenda, making sure that homes are made available for those who genuinely need them. These positive outcomes are the testament to the hard work of our diligent CAFT and Housing Officers working together to ensure that the people who live in our properties are the lawful tenants.”

Did you know there are many different types of housing fraud? These include unlawful subletting, housing application fraud, wrongful succession, abandonment and Right to Buy. Some cases are deliberate and committed purely for profit, while others can occur when family or friends try to help each other out by bypassing the application processes or providing misleading information. 

Every unlawfully sub-let council property deprives a genuine Waltham Forest housing applicant of the chance of a home. Help us stamp it out. If you have a genuine suspicion that a council property is being used for fraudulent activity, you can report this anonymously to a member of CAFT by using the link below.