Watford MP Richard Harrington has expressed his delight that this Bill to criminalise Social Housing Fraud has been passed in the House of Commons in the week that it was revealed that 98,000 council properties are subject to fraud.
Richard’s Private Members Bill will create a criminal offence with appropriate punishments for anybody who unlawfully sublets social housing properties, something that costs the tax payer many millions of pounds each year.
An Audit Commission report released last week showed that over 98,000 properties were subject to fraud whilst 2 million hardworking and law abiding people sit on the housing waiting list. The purpose of Richard’s Bill was to stop this unfair situation and give Local Authorities greater powers to detect this sort of crime and to recoup any unlawful profit made by fraudsters.
The Bill has received cross party support in the House of Commons as well as from Housing Associations and Local Authorities up and down the county. After receiving unanimous support in the Commons last week the Bill now moves on to the House of Lords before reaching Royal Assent.
Richard said:
“I was delighted that the Bill passed its final stage in the Commons with unanimous support from MPs of all parties.
“The Bill will make a real difference to the Local Authorities trying to tackle this fraud which has been able to continue unchecked and unchallenged for too long. Measures included in the Bill will create real deterrents for people thinking they can get away with defrauding Councils and the tax payer.
“The main aim of the Bill is to free up thousands of properties for the vast majority of social tenants who wait on the Housing waiting lists in Watford and across England and Wales.”