Brighton and Hove fraudbusters free up council houses and flats

Between 240 and 360 council tenants in Brighton and Hove could be committing fraud if the area is typical.

Each case of tenancy fraud has an average estimated value of £18,000.

The numbers are extrapolated from a report by the Audit Commission, a national watchdog.

Locally they are underpinned by a modest but growing number of cases being unearthed by a relatively new Corporate Fraud Team.

Each case also means that someone is using a council house or flat unlawfully while about 18,000 people languish on the waiting list.

So the success of the fraudbusters not only saves a tidy sum for the public purse but makes a modest dent in the lengthy local waiting list.

Councillor Bill Randall

The team, which works for Brighton and Hove City Council, was given greater powers in the autumn when the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act became law.

The act makes the unauthorised subletting of a council property a criminal offence, with a fine of up to £5,000 for a first offence.

Anyone convicted a second time could face an unlimited fine or a prison sentence.

The Corporate Fraud Team was set up last June, bringing together investigators working on different areas of fraud for different departments of the council and with different powers.

The man who heads the team, Tony Barnard, will give a briefing to the council’s Housing Committee early next month.

On Tuesday (11 February) he gave an update to the Housing Management Consultative Sub-Committee which is made up of councillors and tenant representatives.

He said that tenants were committing fraud if they didn’t use their council house or flat as their principal home, if they abandoned the property or sold the key to someone else.

Another form of fraud included the wrongful assignment or succession of a tenancy when the property was no longer occupied by the original tenant.

Providing false information in a housing application to obtain a tenancy was a type of fraud.

And so was subletting a property for profit to someone who was not allowed to live there under the terms of a tenancy agreement.

Right to buy fraud was also something that Mr Barnard’s team investigated.

He said: “We have had some cases locally. We became one of the first councils outside London to prosecute a tenant under the Fraud Act.

“In Hangleton one tenant had an estate agent’s board outside her property advertising it for rent.

Councillor Leigh Farrow

“As a result of the investigation a notice to quit was served. The tenant was rather upset and didn’t seem to understand what she had done was wrong.

“She had sublet the whole of the property at a rather large profit to herself.”

On Tuesday Councillor Leigh Farrow asked about staffing levels and successes.

He was told that the team included the equivalent of 8.5 full-time staff.

It had concluded ten cases successfully since the start of the financial year last April. This was one more than in the previous financial year when nine homes were reallocated after fraudsters handed back their keys or were evicted.

Councillor Farrow said that with so many people on the waiting list for a place to live and with the team’s success rate, it should have better funding and more staff.

He added: “This city’s London by sea and we have the same levels of crime that you see in London.”

His comment provoked some disagreement although no one listening to Mr Barnard’s presentation expressed doubts about the value of the fraudbusters’ work.

Councillor Bill Randall, the chairman of the Housing Committee and the Housing Management Consultative Sub-Committee, said last week: “At a rough estimate it costs us about £4.2 million a year at the moment and it deprives tenants of a tenancy.

“With ten cases this year that’s going to save the council £180,000 – and it’s going to enable us to house people.

“There is a case for giving you some more resources to step up your efforts.”