Subletting not tolerated in Hammersmith and Fulham
Tuesday January 3, 2012
Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council has welcomed Government plans to outlaw subletting and has anticipated the move by launching a drive to weed out anyone who is abusing the system in the borough.
At the moment, it is not a criminal offence to sublet a council house - a loophole that allows tenants to move out and take rent from someone else. However, anyone caught subletting can be evicted for breaching their contract.
The council has welcomed steps by the Government to go one step further and potentially jail offenders, and is continually carrying out an audit of its housing stock to ensure the correct tenants are living there. In addition to this it has been working with other parties to share intelligence and target suspected fraudsters, rather than the majority of honest tenants.
Cllr Andrew Johnson, cabinet member for housing, said: “We already have a zero tolerance policy towards fraudsters profiting from some of the most vulnerable members of society by unlawfully subletting their home. I am delighted that the Government now intends to close the loophole and make subletting illegal and the message is now clear – if you are illegally subletting your home in Hammersmith & Fulham we will find you and take it back, and you may face criminal charges.
“Every home that is sublet is a property that is taken away from a person or family in need and we will be redoubling our efforts to reclaim any sublet homes to ensure those most vulnerable are not left out in the cold.”
The Council has joined forces with Experian, the UK’s largest credit reference agency, to deploy the latest fraud detection and data matching techniques to tackle social housing fraud in Hammersmith & Fulham.
