Federation backs calls for clampdown on illegal subletting

Wednesday, 11 January 2012 2:19 PM

Responding to Housing Minister Grant Shapps’s announcement today on proposals to battle tenancy fraud, David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said:

“We fully support the Minister’s proposals to tackle the problem of illegal subletting. We are pleased that the Government is planning to provide mechanisms that will allow strong action to be taken.

Tenancy fraud is a grave abuse and tackling it has always been a priority for social landlords. With so many people requiring affordable housing, such behaviour is unfair on the large numbers of people on waiting lists.

Criminalising subletting will mean that the profits will become the proceeds of crime and will be available for confiscation on conviction. This is a very serious penalty, in addition to the loss of the tenancy, which is the usual sanction at present. We welcome plans to reimburse the proceeds of tenancy fraud to the social landlords in whose stock the fraud has been committed. This will help boost investment in much-needed affordable homes. It will also be important to ensure that appropriate support is available to those who may have innocently taken up what they thought to be a legitimate tenancy.

The Housing Minister is right to say that we need to build more affordable housing. Building affordable housing is a win/win for the taxpayer. Not only does it provide homes for people stuck on waiting lists at the lowest cost to the public purse but it also creates jobs, supports small businesses and gives the economy a quick shot in the arm with a speed and effectiveness no other industry can match.

A public investment of £1bn - matched by £8bn from housing associations - would build 66,000 shared ownership homes for people on low to middle incomes, create 400,000 jobs and, in doing so, save the taxpayer £700m in job seeker's allowance - not to mention the added savings from housing benefit and increased tax revenues.”

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