The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) annual Fraud and Corruption Tracker, published today, said that an estimated 3,632 instances of council housing fraud took place in 2018/19, down from 4,733 the year before.
Right to Buy fraud more than halved, from 1,518 cases in 2017/18 to 652 in 2018/19.
Total Right to Buy sales 21% in 2018 – to just over 10,200
This is the lowest level lowest level since discounts were raised dramatically in 2012/13.
Inside housing had found in a previous investigation that one in seven homes sold through the policy since 2012 was bought by a tenant on housing benefit, leading experts to raise fraud concerns.
CIPFA said the reduction in all forms of housing fraud – which includes illegal subletting, succession and false applications – is part of a “steady downward trend in the number of housing and tenancy-related frauds detected/prevented”.