Tenancy fraud
Bolton at Home has a limited number of houses available to rent. These are prioritised according to housing needs. A person who commits tenancy fraud is effectively taking the someone’s place on the housing waiting list.
What is tenancy fraud?
This covers a number of unlawful housing practices. For example:
- unlawfully subletting a home
- non-occupation of a home as their main residence
- giving false or misleading information to get a property
- 'key selling' where a tenant is paid to pass on their keys in return for a one-off payment
Why is this a problem?
Tenancy fraud is one way to get a property without having to meet conditions set out by Homes For Bolton and means that people who have been waiting a long time for a home will have to wait even longer.
Tenancy fraud is also linked to other activities, including antisocial behaviour, sex trade and drug cultivation.
What are we doing about tenancy fraud?
Bolton at Home is committed to tackling tenancy fraud and will always strive to recover properties when tenancy fraud is proven.
To date we have reclaimed 44 properties allowing us to house individuals and families who have been waiting for a home. We are currently investigating over 170 cases.
As part of our commitment to reducing tenancy fraud, we intend to support the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) which has been set up by the Audit Commission in order to protect public funds. This means that information we hold about your relating to your tenancy may be used in ‘data matching’.
Data matching involves comparing computer records held by one organisation against other computer records held by the same or another organisation to see how far they match. This process helps to identify any inconsistencies in the data which can then be investigated. The investigation may reveal fraud, but it may also show that there has been an error or another explanation for the data match.
Being part of the NFI will help us prevent and detect fraudulent tenancies and ultimately save us money which we can reinvest in improving homes and communities.
For more information you can visit the Audit Commission website www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nfi or you can call them 0844 798 3131.
Report tenancy fraud
We need your help in tackling tenancy fraud and there are a number of ways you can do this.
Hotline number: 01204 335431
Email: reporthousingfraud@boltonathome.org.uk
Online: Follow this link to the online enquiry form
Contact: your local neighbourhood housing office
The information you provide will be used in the strictest confidence.