The Tenancy Fraud Forum, in partnership with the London Boroughs Fraud Investigations Group (LBFIG) and the G15 group of London housing associations, is collecting data on detected London tenancy frauds for the financial year 2023/24. This data will inform, for the very first time, a report on social housing tenancy frauds detected by both London Boroughs and London based housing associations.
We are seeking your voluntary participation. To take part please complete and submit responses to the questions contained in relevant survey - the links to which can be found below - by 23:59pm 18th October 2024. All data will be treated in confidence, and no participating organisation will be individually identified.
Please note this survey only relates to social homes in London.
To ensure consistency, your data submission must conform to the participation requirements outlined below and we ask you confirm you have the agreement of your organisation to participate.
Definitions:
A) Housing tenancy fraud is when social housing is used by someone not entitled to occupy that home, It includes, but is not limited to :
· Subletting without permission
· Providing false information on application for housing
· Wrongful tenancy assignment and succession
· Failing to use the property as the principal home
· Abandoning it without proper process (please see caveat below)
· Selling the keys to someone else
We recognise that some social housing providers currently do not include abandonments without proper process as a category of tenancy fraud. For the purpose of this study, we will include data from those organisations that do not recognise abandonment without proper process as a form of tenancy fraud. However, please indicate in the relevant question below if your organisation does include such detected abandoned properties within your data submission.
We exclude detected Right-To-Buy (RTB) frauds from this definition. RTB frauds should not be included in your data submission.
B) We use the "balance of probabilities" standard when recognising a tenancy fraud has been detected. For detected tenancy frauds to be included in your data submission:
· A manager should be satisfied that a tenancy fraud has been committed on the balance of probabilities; and
· That some form of action has been taken. In most cases this will be recovery of the property, but can also include some form of civil action, a warning to the tenant/fraudster, as well as criminal prosecution.
The links for the surveys are as follows:
Local Authority - https://forms.office.com/e/Ya507iadEP
Housing Association - https://forms.office.com/e/gVT50WGepj
For clarification or any queries you may have on this data collection process, please contact us via admin@tenancyfraudforum.org.uk
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