Tenancy Fraud

Right to Rent legislation requires housing associations, local councils and lettings agents in England to check that all tenants who occupy their properties have legal status to live in the UK. This means that before you can rent a home with us we must undertake ID checks prior to letting out the property. We have to follow rules established by the Government, Right to Rent Check Rules.

We also have a regulatory responsibility to identify tenancy fraud to make sure our homes are let fairly to people who need them.

If one of our residents commits tenancy fraud it prevents us offering the home to those most in need. We take any form of unlawful occupation like this very seriously. There are many types of tenancy fraud, including:

Giving false or misleading information when applying for a home, such as false names, using forged documents or lying about the need for housing.
Illegally subletting all or part of the home – this is different to taking in a lodger.
A tenant moves out of their home and lets someone else live there.
A tenant doesn’t live in their home as their only or main home.

If you think the person living in a home isn't the tenant, please contact us. We’ll treat all reports of unlawful occupation as confidential. If we identify or receive information that suggests someone is unlawfully occupying one of our homes, we’ll write to the tenant and arrange a home visit. If we’re not satisfied that the occupant is the registered tenant, we’ll continue to investigate. Please see our Tenancy Fraud factsheet