It’s estimated that tenancy fraud costs the public purse around £900 million a year. Tenancy fraud’s a factor in around 100,000 housing association homes across the country.
Our officers investigate tenancy fraud by carrying out:
- spot-checks
- tenancy audits
If you suspect an incident of tenancy fraud email tenancy.fraud@salixhomes.co.uk.
Case studies
Obtaining property by deception
We found out that one of our tenants held 2 separate social housing tenancies in different towns.
The tenant fraudulently obtained a tenancy with Salix Homes in 2012. She failed to declare that she already held a tenancy with a housing association in London.
The fraudster lived in the Salford property while illegally subletting her London home.
This type of fraud is ‘obtaining a property by deception’
In this case the tenant was:
- taking the chance of a home from someone on the housing waiting list in genuine need
- profiting from her deception through illegally subletting the property in London
The tenant got away with her fraud for four years. We uncovered the crime following an investigation with the London housing association.
The result
The tenant was prosecuted and
- was evicted from our property
- had the contract with the London housing association cancelled
Illegal subletting
One of our trades people spotted fraudsters illegally subletting their Salix Homes property.
The carpet fitter because suspicious after finding mattresses on the floor. This was a sign that several people were living in the property who should not be. He promptly reported his concerns to us.
Our officers found that the property was registered to a couple with young children. A tenancy check found no trace of children living at the house.
We worked with Greater Manchester Police, we found that:
- the tenant’s car was registered to another address
- the tenant was also being investigated by police for another fraud
The tenants had also lodged an application for Right to Buy with us to buy the house in question. This was immediately denied.
The result
Following our investigation
- the tenants terminated their tenancy and handed back the keys
- we have been able to lease the home to a family in genuine need