Housing fraud

We take tenancy fraud seriously. We have dedicated, specialist Tenancy Fraud Officers who investigate suspected tenancy fraud.

People who have made money from tenancy fraud will be made to pay this back if they are convicted.

Tenancy fraud

The most common types of tenancy fraud:

Subletting

A tenant moves out of their house and rents it to someone else. Subletting is a criminal offence. This is different from having a lodger. Leeds City Council tenants can rent part of their property (for example, a room) to someone else, but must get permission to do so.

Non-occupation

A tenant no longer lives in their property.

Housing application fraud

Someone obtains or tries to obtain a property by submitting false information on their housing application.

Right to buy fraud

Most commonly, this is where someone tries to acquire a property under Right to Buy when they are not living there, or by submitting false information on their application.

Succession or assignment fraud

Where someone uses false information to succeed to a tenancy or to assign their tenancy to someone who isn't actually eligible.

Report tenancy fraud

Contact us by email or phone to report suspected tenancy fraud.

We need to know:

• your name and contact details - this will be kept confidential, but you can choose to make an anonymous report if you prefer
• the address of the property involved in the suspected fraud
• why you suspect tenancy fraud, including when you last saw the tenant, and any other details about who is using or visiting the property
• if you are willing to make a statement about the fraud