Tenancy fraud
Tenancy fraud happens when someone lives in a social rented home that was not allocated to them. It is a criminal offence.
After months of investigation, persistence, waiting patiently, broken promises and court delays, we finally recovered a one-bedroom flat that was being illegally occupied since pre-Covid. An elderly Wandle tenant passed away in August 2019. After her death, her son applied to succeed to the property. We occasionally allow this, but we soon discovered they already had a tenancy with Lambeth Council.
He told us he wanted to remain in his late mother's flat as it had aids and adaptations that suited his needs. We were sympathetic to his reported needs, but we fully investigated and found things were not what he had led us to believe. The case was referred to our external partner solicitors who then issued possession proceedings on our behalf. The matter was then halted for some time due to the global pandemic.
He decided to defend our claim, so the case was adjourned in April 2023 following court directions and we were then left waiting for a trial date, which was eventually set for February 1 2024.
In December 2023, his solicitor contacted us to say he would leave the property by ‘consent’ but asked if he could remain until the end of February, as he was about to go into hospital. Given that the trial was not until 1 February, we would not have been awarded possession before then anyway, so agreed to this.
Unfortunately, he didn’t leave as promised, but due to the repossession order, we were able to apply for a court eviction immediately. Once again, the court backlog kicked in and we finally received a date of October 23 2024 for the eviction. Fortunately, this went ahead smoothly, and we recovered possession of the property.
Get in the know
There are lots of different kinds of tenancy fraud, such as:
- when a tenant rents out all or part of their home without our permission.
- when a tenant uses their home for a business or unlawfully lets it out instead of living in it.
- when someone stops using their property as their main home, leaving someone else in occupation. This could be a parent moving out and leaving a friend or family member living there; or if the tenant dies and someone else keeps living there without telling us.
- when a tenant moves out and sells their key to someone else.
- when a tenant knowingly gives us false information when applying for a home.
- when a tenant stops living at their home and leaves it but does so without telling us.
- keeping a social rented home when they own another property.
At Wandle, we take tenancy fraud seriously because it denies homes to those who need one.
If you suspect tenancy fraud, please you can email us on customerservices@wandle.com. You can also call us on 0300 2000 120.