Tenancy benefit fraudbusters save over £500k in Brighton and Hove
It comes amid a crackdown on council tenants listing homes on Airbnb
Fraudbusters saved more than half a million pounds in Brighton and Hove City Council’s housing department alone last year.
They recovered six properties and tackled tenancy fraud, according to counter fraud audit manager Simon White.
Mr White spoke about the results at the council’s Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee meeting at Brighton Town Hall on Tuesday (25 June).
heard from the audit manager for counter fraud Simon White, how the council is working proactively to deal with tenancy fraud.
Newly elected Labour councillor Theresa Mackey asked about the process for recovering six properties through the tenancy fraud team, which led to savings worth £570,000.
Mr White said that officials looked at who was supposed to live in the household and used credit referencing to pick up any anomalies.
As part of a national pilot project, the council is also looking at the short-term letting site Airbnb for properties which are on the site when they shouldn’t be.
Council tenants are barred from sub-letting even just one let alone their entire home.
One property was recovered after officers found the named tenant had moved out.
The team is in the process of securing another one or two properties, councillors were told.
Green councillor Sue Shanks said: “I’m doing a lot of door knocking at the moment and we often find the person who is supposed to be in a house isn’t in the house.
“I think that Airbnb is quite interesting, particularly in my ward (West Hill and North Laine), which is a city centre ward. Tenants will say to me ‘that’s an Airbnb’. Someone said that to me in a council block the other day.
“If it’s a leasehold property, there’s nothing we can do about that but obviously if it’s one of our properties then that would be very concerning.”
Conservative councillor Anne Meadows said that council homes were “precious” and asked how long the investigations took.
She was told that the durations varied depending on whether the cases went to court which could add to the complexity of cases although most were not lengthy.
Interim housing director Martin Reid said that the housing management team did a lot of work to address tenancy fraud, publicising how to identify and report it in its publication to tenants, Homing In.
Mr Reid said: “We work with our operatives and contractors to make sure they’re aware of signs of tenancy fraud.
“The classic is people not responding to their annual gas safety check and not letting contractors in.
“Our housing officers are the eyes and ears working around estates and listening to residents as part of our proactive work.”
Data checks across all council services revealed three housing benefit overpayments worth £42,588. They were found because the claimant receiving a student loan.