WIREDGOV

A report on social housing tenancy fraud, issued yesterday by the Assembly's Public Accounts Committee, has found that the Department for Social Development (DSD) has failed to get to grips with the issue.

The Committee's Report highlights an alarming increase in the cost of providing temporary accommodation for homeless families from £5.2million in 2008 to £10.9million in 2013. It is estimated that for every 100 fraudulently occupied houses recovered, £800,000 could be saved by avoiding the additional costs associated with temporary placement of families in private rented temporary accommodation.

Speaking about the report, Committee Chairperson Michaela Boyle MLA said: "Social housing tenancy fraud is a serious problem that impacts on the most vulnerable in our society.

"Our Report has come to the conclusion that our local social housing providers have been too slow to deal with tenancy fraud and have not been proactive in trying to recover fraudulently occupied properties. We are also unhappy that the Department for Social Development has not yet established the level of tenancy fraud here and we expect them to do this urgently."

The Report was also critical of the fact that there have been no prosecutions for tenancy fraud in Northern Ireland. The Committee considers that the threat of prosecution is an important deterrent for potential fraudsters.

The Chairperson did however note some positive findings in the Report, saying: "The Committee is encouraged by the range of measures that have more recently been put in place by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Northern Ireland Housing Associations to tackle tenancy fraud proactively.

"In particular, we welcome the consideration of innovative approaches such as the introduction of a single investigative team to combat tenancy fraud across the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Housing Associations and the establishment of an inter-agency dedicated tenancy fraud hotline.

"We look forward to seeing a more proactive approach to prevention, detection and investigation in the future."

Download the full report here.

Notes to Editors:

• NIHE and Housing Associations recovered 302 properties that had been abandoned by their tenants in 2012-13.
• At any one time, there can be around 40,000 families on the waiting list for a social home - typically, 3,000 of these homeless families each year are placed in temporary accommodation at a cost in 2011-12 of £10 million.
• Based on research undertaken by the Audit Commission in England over the past 4 years, up to 2,400 social houses could be fraudulently occupied in Northern Ireland.
• Northern Ireland Housing Executive have now put in place: an online facility for reporting suspected fraud; 60 neighbourhood officers; and targeted tenancy audits.