What is Housing Fraud? 

Most people, when applying for a house, wait their turn to be allocated a home. Housing cheats don’t wait, they jump the queue. It’s not fair. 

They use up valuable housing spaces which deprive those people who have a greater need. People that do this are guilty of housing fraud. 

There are different types of housing fraud; here are some of the most common:

Unlawful Sub-letting 

When a tenant lets out their council or housing association home without the knowledge or permission of their landlord, they are unlawfully subletting.  

They often continue to pay the rent for the property directly to their landlord, but charge the person they are subletting to a much higher rental payment. 

It is not fair to sublet and to profit from a property which could be given to someone in greater need.

Obtaining Housing by Deception 

When a person gets a council or housing association home by giving false information in their application, for example not telling the landlord they are renting another council or housing association property, they are committing housing fraud.

Wrongly Claimed Succession 

When a tenant dies, there are rules that say what should be done with the tenancy. A wrongly claimed succession is when someone, who is not entitled to, tries to take over the tenancy. 

For example, they might say they lived with the tenant before they died, when in fact they were living elsewhere. 

Your help in reporting housing fraud is important because you can see what’s going on in your neighbourhood. 

• You might know that somebody has a home the landlord doesn’t know about or has given false information in their housing application. 
• You might suspect someone of housing fraud having seen them collect rent from your neighbours. 
• You might be suspicious because the tenants of a property keep changing. 

CBH are involved in a campaign against people who illegally sublet their homes.  We have teamed up with other social landlords in the area to tackle the problem.  

These include Circle Anglia, Colne Housing, The Guinness Trust, Flagship Suffolk Housing, Family Mosaic, Estuary and Springboard.  

Together, we are all taking part in the initiative to reduce the level of fraud.  

Please fill in the form below to report fraud. 

For more advice, contact our Community Safety Team on 01206 507341. You can also view our Anti-social behaviour policy and Antisocial behaviour charter.

Report fraud 

If you want to help us, and your Community, please give us any information that you have on anybody that you think is committing Housing Fraud in a Colchester Borough Homes managed property. 

Any information that you give us will be treated in strict confidence. 

You can use this form to send us the details.  Please give us as much detail as possible.  

If you complete this form, CBH will store and process your data in accordance with the requirements of its Data Protection policy and in keeping with the Data Protection Act.  

Please see Data Protection and Privacy for more information. 

If the property is not managed by Colchester Borough Homes, please report the fraud direct to the landlord.