Tenancy fraud policy

All new tenants will be contacted within eight to twelve weeks of moving into their new home by a Neighbourhood Officer or Income Officer to ensure that the tenant and their household has moved in and that the property is occupied.

Tenancy audits will be undertaken on a periodic basis to ensure that the property is being maintained within the terms of the tenancy agreement, to capture statistics on overcrowding and under-occupancy and also to identify any potential tenancy fraud. Audits will be prioritised according to intelligence as well as targeting properties where we have had limited or no contact.

WHBC will undertake publicity campaigns across a range of media to highlight the impact of tenancy fraud, raising awareness of the signs and to encourage reporting. We will also offer a variety of channels through which to report tenancy fraud.

We will ensure that staff are trained to detect and identify when tenancy fraud may be being committed and how to report it. Our Anti-social Behaviour team will receive specialist training to enable them to investigate and case manage reports effectively through to legal action.

We will participate in the Cabinet Office's National Fraud Initiative (NFI) which is an exercise to electronically match data provided by public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud.