In April 2023 Lost homes, lost hope: social housing fraud in England – recovering social homes for those in need – a research report produced by the Tenancy Fraud Forum and Fraud Advisory Panel – was produced.
It proceeded on the basis that the average cost of tenancy fraud in England was £42,000 per property and found:
- 148,000 social homes were subject to some sort of tenancy fraud.
- That’s 1 in 20 of all social homes in London, and 1 in 30 elsewhere in England.
- Tenancy fraud detections fell 55% between 2013/14 and 2019/20.
- 76% of frauds go undetected over the same period, at a cost to the public purse of £500 million.
In this International Fraud Awareness Week this is a report worth a re-read!

