Shop Thy Neighbour

It's simple economics: The law of supply and demand.

 

Recent estimates suggest that about 5% of social homes in London are unlawfully sublet. Further, if information recently given to government is reliable, across England anything between 50,000 to 200,000 social rented homes have been unlawfully sublet.

There are profits to be made here by the tenants - with up to four times the social housing rent being charged by unlawful sub-letters.  One London-based Housing Association reported the repossession of an unlawfully sublet property from one of their tenants - who had reputedly made £32,000, over three years, and bought a house in France ... where he lived on the proceeds! 

With the recession, and the demand for social housing easily exceeding supply, the government has urged Social Landlords to make regular audits of their lettings and even provide telephone lines for anonymous tip-offs from other tenants. The government has even proposed offering rewards, of up to £500, to those social housing tenants who ‘shop’ their neighbours for unlawfully subletting their social homes.

The new guidance, drawn up for ministers by the Chartered Institute of Housing, suggests housing officers should make unannounced visits to targeted properties – particularly those in sought-after locations, with two or more bedrooms or where the tenant has been paying the rent in cash.

The sub-letters have no rights or protection if the social home is then reclaimed and they can be evicted in as few as seven days.

 If you would like more information or advice on the issues arising from unlawful sublets, and how to deal with them, please contact Ben Judge or Alan Lodge on 024 7623 4227.