Council Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of how many council tenants sub-let their council homes; and what statistical basis his Department uses to make such an estimate.

Grant Shapps: The Audit Commission estimated in 2009 there were at least 50,000 unlawfully occupied social homes in England; however, it has noted:

'the need for more research to get a clearer picture of the prevalence and cost of housing tenancy fraud, particularly for the three-quarters of social housing outside London'  More recent analysis carried out by consultancy Experian Public Services suggests the figure could be more than 150,000 in practice (“Experian press release”, 12 September 2011).  Further research by housing fraud specialists, HJK Associates, has suggested that 160,000 social housing tenants in London alone may be subletting their properties (cited in The Sunday Telegraph, 22 January 2012).  We have recently consulted on proposals that would strengthen legislation around social housing fraud. A summary of responses will be published in due course.