People who rent out their council homes to make money could be locked up for two years under new laws which come into force today.
For the first time, sub-letting a council property is now a criminal offence with fraudsters also facing hefty fines. Ministers are clamping down on the practice after discovering it costs the taxpayer £1.8 billion a year and clogs up desperately needed social housing.
Previously people who rented out social housing — often for thousands of pounds in profit — faced little more than having to hand back the keys to their property. Housing minister Kris Hopkins said: “For years, tenancy cheats have been able to carry on with their fraudulent activity, denying social homes to people in real need while facing little more than a slap on the wrist if they got caught.
“Today’s new powers will ensure social tenants found sub-letting their home will face the real threat of prison time and a fine.” Officials estimate that about 100,000 social homes in England could be unlawfully occupied, while thousands languish on waiting lists. Today’s new laws, under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act, will also give social landlords the power to recover the proceeds of sub-letting.
The legislation forms part of a wider drive to tackle fraud which has seen Whitehall pass £19 million to councils, allowing them to set up specialist investigation teams and use advanced data-matching techniques to catch rule-breakers.
The reforms are coming into force after the Government backed a Private Member’s Bill proposed by Tory MP for Watford Richard Harrington.
He said: “This will make a real difference to the many hard-working people and families waiting for a home.”
A Labour spokesman said the measure had been given cross-party support and was a continuation of work done by the previous government.
