Social housing tenancy fraud still a problem, says Committee

A report on social housing tenancy fraud, issued today by the 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.