16% Of RTB Purchasers 'On Housing Benefit'

Around 16% of council homes sold by 10 councils under the boosted Right to Buy have been to tenants on housing benefit, raising fears of fraud. Councils responding to a joint investigation by BBC Radio 4 and Inside Housing revealed 721 sales out of a total of 4,538 were to tenants in receipt of benefit when they applied. A sale to a tenant on housing benefit does not prove fraud, but has been described as a “red flag”. This is because to gain a mortgage, someone else would have to be providing the funds. The highest percentage was in Dudley, where 243 of 651 properties – 37.3% – were sold to tenants on housing benefit. Read more on Inside Housing.