Hendon Town Hall
Barnet Council is estimated to have saved more than £1.3million in temporary accommodation costs by cracking down on social housing fraud, a new report reveals.
It shows that 41 properties were recovered for those in need during the 2023-2024 financial year after being used illegally. This helped the council save £1,313,272 in temporary accommodation costs that it would otherwise have spent to house residents facing homelessness.
The figures were submitted to the council’s Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committee in an annual report by its Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT).
Committee Chair Cllr Arjun Mittra said: “We need to make sure housing is available for the most vulnerable people in our community. Fraud prevents that, taking affordable homes away from those who genuinely need them to serve the selfishness of those who don’t. We are committed to preventing, detecting and thoroughly investigating all forms of fraud, corruption and dishonesty. We will not tolerate it, and we thank our CAFT team for helping to root out this selfish practice from Barnet.”
Cases tackled by the CAFT team include that of a couple referred to the council by the Met Police. The woman was arrested at a property that she said was her main residence – but it wasn’t. Police found out her partner was in prison, leading the council to discover she was living there while subletting her social housing property between July 2017 and March 2020. The woman had received £800 per month in rent. Her husband later admitted culpability and pleaded guilty to subletting. He was sentenced to an additional eight months in prison, and the property was recovered.
The CAFT team also found that a man had been living with his mother since at least 2012 – despite claiming the 25% single person discount on his council tax. The council is reclaiming £8,714.83 from the resident, and he has been given a caution.
They also helped stop 12 fraudulent right-to-buy applications during the last financial year, helping the council retain an asset value of £1,534,800.
What’s more, they pursued 21 criminal prosecutions for blue badge fraud, corporate fraud and housing fraud – with the courts awarding the council £21,436.50 in costs. Meanwhile, 56 cautions were given for offences ranging from blue badge misuse, council tax fraud and false applications for homelessness. A further £6,083.31 was issued in administrative penalties for council tax support offences with another £54,284.04 being identified for civil recovery.
The committee also heard that there were currently another 30 cases with our legal team awaiting court action.
If you suspect anyone of committing fraud in Barnet please contact CAFT@barnet.gov.uk or call the fraud hotline 0208 359 2007.