We recover £55,000 and a much-needed social home from tenancy fraudster

We’re pleased to have been awarded £55,000 plus costs by securing an Unlawful Profit Order against a former resident found to be unlawfully subletting a social home.

Following from a referral, our Counter Fraud Manager’s investigation revealed the resident already owned a property when they started their tenancy with Network Homes in 2021. They’d also had a social tenancy with another housing association since 2019. They’d were living in the property they owned while subletting the Network Homes property through various letting websites for £1,300 per week.

The subletting was also arranged through a property company of which the resident was a director with a professional website listing various services available such as sales and lettings, property management, property consultancy and international sales.

The £55,000 award is a record for Network Homes with the previous Unlawful Profit Order securing £45,000 back in 2021. Unlawful Profit Orders require the offender to pay us an amount that represents the profit they made from illegally subletting.

Report tenancy fraud

Tenancy fraud covers unlawfully subletting of social housing properties, making a false statement to obtain a home, abandonment or fraudulently submitting a Right to Buy/Right to Acquire application.

Successful outcomes in tenancy fraud cases rely heavily on the support we receive from residents and members of the public. You can report tenancy fraud in confidence by calling 0208 459 9463 or emailing fraud@networkhomes.org.uk. Any information you give us will be treated in the strictest of confidence and your identity will be protected.

You can report the suspected fraud anonymously but please give us as much information as possible to help our investigations. The more information that we have the better the chance we have of stopping it.

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