January 09, 2012
The government has announced it will be vigorously targeting council house tenants who sublet spare rooms and that it is ready to introduce criminal offences to crack down on the "scandal" of housing tenancy fraud and abuse in the UK.
According to Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister, a consultation process will be launched investigating advances in current legislation, as the government targets the 160,000 council tenants who sublet their properties and the 6,000 social housing tenants who earn more than £100,000 a year.
"For too long this country has turned a blind eye on the multibillion-pound problem of housing tenancy fraud and abuse," Shapps told the Sunday Telegraph.
"This year the coalition is determined to end that scandal. Why should someone on a six-figure income enjoy a fantastically subsidised council rent, whilst those in real need languish on the waiting list?”
Shapps believes tenants sublet their properties because the rules against doing so are too weak and a criminal offence needs to be introduced, under which penalties could include fines and possibly imprisonment. In addition, a small number of council tenants who earn more than £100,000 a year will also face eviction if they refuse to pay unsubsidised rents closer to the market rate.
"If the sanctions themselves are so weak, the worst that happens is you get that council home taken away from you if you're found out," he added. "We need to change that."
