Housing Minister Grant Shapps has set out proposals to help ensure tenancy cheats who deny social homes to families in need - such as through unlawful subletting and key-selling - will face a possible two year jail sentence. He said the plans could free up thousands of homes for housing waiting lists. Tenancy cheats currently face no greater penalty than losing their tenancy. Mr Shapps wants to see much greater legal consequences for these cheats - and so is consulting on proposals that would introduce specific criminal offences for tenancy fraud, such as those which already exist for social security fraud. Some estimates suggest that between 50,000 and 160,000 social homes are currently being unlawfully occupied across the country. The Minister said the plans would also strengthen councils' legal rights as landlords to help them detect and prosecute tenancy fraud more effectively and return lost revenue back to local coffers. Read more on the CLG website.
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