What is Tenancy Fraud?

Every year in Northern Ireland, people on the waiting list are denied a home because someone is being dishonest about their housing needs.

Radius is committed to preventing, detecting and tackling tenancy fraud to ensure our properties are legally occupied by people entitled to live in them.

There are different types of tenancy fraud. The most common are:

• Obtaining housing by deception – when a person obtains housing by making a false declaration regarding information pertinent to their application or by not declaring that they own or rent another property.
  
• Unlawfully subletting – where a tenant rents their home to another person without the knowledge or permission of their landlord. 
• Unauthorised succession – either wrongly claiming succession rights or continuing to live in a property after the tenant has died without the right to do so. 
• Non residence – where a tenant leaves their home empty without informing the landlord.

What Happens when Someone Commits Tenancy Fraud?

• They are likely to lose their tenancy if caught and may not be entitled to apply for social housing in the future.
• Depending on how serious the fraud is, they could be fined and/or sent to prison.
• They are preventing someone who may be in greater need of housing from getting offered a home.

What Radius is Doing

• We check photographic ID of tenants before we sign the tenancy agreement, or visit tenants at home who are unknown to us.
• We complete early-tenancy counselling visits six weeks into a new tenancy. ID is checked again at this visit.
• We carry out unannounced tenancy visits.
• Housing Officers investigate any tenants who have not allowed access for essential servicing such as gas boiler servicing.
• We investigate all reports of tenancy fraud.
• Legal action can result in Radius regaining possession of the property.

What you can do...

Please contact us as soon as possible if you believe there is tenancy fraud taking place in your area.

Call us now on:
0330 123 0888
Email us at:
info@radiushousing.org

Write to us at: Tenancy Fraud, Radius Housing Association, 38–52 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 6AA