Draft fraud policy

Housing Allocations   

To prevent fraudulent housing applications, we: 

• Thoroughly verify all housing application before they are considered for a housing offer
• Send all applications for fraud investigation
• Request documents to confirm the identity and residency of all household members
• Verify circumstances through Council Tax and Housing Benefit systems and gather supporting information
• Investigate any discrepancies.

Where there is a reason to believe that an applicant is attempting to commit fraud, that application will be suspended pending further enquiries. 

Tenancy Management 

To identify council tenants who are committing housing fraud we

• Visit new tenants twice in their first year of moving into the property to ensure that the applicants listed on the housing application is living there
• Conduct tenancy audits, targeting audits where there is suspicion of housing fraud. This may include, for example, where we haven’t heard from the tenant in 12 months, no repairs have taken place, and the rent account is consistently in a high level of credit
• Carry out enhanced checks of Right to Buy applications

Refer suspected Housing Fraud cases to the Fraud Team who will investigate the alleged fraud and whether to prosecute. 

Detection 

• Housing staff receive training on housing fraud to spot the signs of fraud and what to do when suspicions arise
• The housing and fraud team work closely to detect suspected fraud, including investigations such as reviewing record, further visits and making enquiries to neighbours
• Any tenant who commits housing fraud is at risk of losing their tenancy and permanent exclusion from the housing register. 
• Legal action