Croydon has seized possession of 36 council-owned homes in a massive crackdown on housing fraud in the borough.
Social housing crackdown: could there be more council homes in the borough being used by those not entitled to social housing?
The council homes – desperately needed to provide housing for people on the council’s waiting list – were being occupied by people who owned houses or other properties elsewhere, or were not entitled to social housing.
The crackdown by Croydon and other London boroughs comes as the cost of fulfilling the authorities’ legal responsibilities to house the homeless is stretching their budgets beyond breaking point.
Croydon has nearly 9,000 people on its housing waiting list. The average wait for a three-bedroom, family council home in Croydon is nine years. The government estimates the value of each recovered tenancy in London at £78,300. The recovery and use of the 36 seized homes is therefore reckoned could save the council £ 2.8million per year.
The council said that one of its homes was taken back after it was discovered the tenant had bought a £650,000 property while still holding her council home for her daughter to use “occasionally”.
Others were taken back after it was found they had been passed on to children or were left empty when the listed tenants moved out.
Only around 800 social homes become available in Croydon each year, the council says. “Recovering these homes is essential.”
Tenancy fraud includes subletting, false applications, illegal succession claims and people living elsewhere while keeping a council home. The council also finds cases where tenants have stopped living in their home for long periods. “These cases are not always fraudulent, but they still lead to homes being recovered and re-let to residents who need them,” the council said.
Croydon operates a housing fraud team together with Lambeth Council.
“Resident reports are crucial,” the council said. “Six cases reported by residents are currently under investigation, and four have been completed and passed to the council’s housing and legal teams for further action.
“In some cases, the courts are now involved to return properties to the council so they can be offered to people who genuinely need them,” the council said.
“We cannot allow anyone to take advantage of the system or keep a home they are not entitled to,” Croydon’s failed Mayor, Jason Perry, told the Standard, claiming his council has a “zero-tolerance” approach to housing fraud.
The discovery of so many council homes being in the possession of people not entitled to council housing does, though, raise important questions about the standard of management and the rigour of checks being conducted by the housing department at Perry’s council.
It was reported recently that one council employee was also getting paid while working for another London borough. That council worker was employed in Croydon’s housing department…
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