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Tenancy fraud

The Government recently introduced a new initiative aimed at tackling social fraud and tenancy misuse: 'Blowing the whistle on housing cheats'.

What is tenancy fraud?

This covers a number of unlawful housing practices. For example:

• non-occupation of a property as their principal home.If the property is not used as the main/only home, the tenancy will no longer be secure and cannot be reinstated later
• getting a council tenancy through misrepresenting identity or circumstances
• unlawfully subletting a home to a subtenant Nottingham City Homes knows nothing about
• 'key selling' where a tenant is paid to pass on their keys in return for a one-off payment

Why is this a problem?

Most of our tenants have signed up to a Nottingham City Homes tenancy perfectly legally and have every right to live in one of our homes. Unfortunately, a few people will take advantage of the housing register or benefits system to get something they are not entitled to. Sub-letting is one way of getting round the conditions of having to qualify for a particular home through the HomeLink scheme.

This means that people who have been waiting a long time for a home will have to wait even longer. It also means that people living in NCH properties may not be who we think they are.

What are we doing about tenancy fraud?

We take tenancy fraud very seriously and will press for eviction or tenancy termination. We can also take other action. As of October 2010, our tenancy fraud investigation officer (TFIO) has investigated many reports. We have around 30 cases across the city and so far have taken back six homes as a result of tenancy fraud. You can report a case using the e-mail at the end of this page.

Positive results

We've had lots of positive results from our investigationsover the last few months. Take a look at what's happened.

Report a case

Hotline number: 0115 915 7101

Text: EMPTY to 80800 for FREE with your details

E-mail: socialfraud@nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk

We will keep you posted with more information on this page.