Laura Sharman 09 March 2010 Unlawful sub-letting of social housing ‘should be a criminal offence’ Social housing tenants who sub-let their properties should be prosecuted for fraud, according to a report by the New Local Government Network (NLGN). The report shows that at least 50,000 people fraudulently live in social housing: 80% of these would not actually qualify for council help. NLGN want illegal sub-letting to be treated the same as benefit fraud in the eyes of the law. According to estimates from the Audit Commission, unlawful sub-letting costs local councils an average £75,000 over three years. Savings of £750 million could be made by recovering all unlawfully sub-let properties. Report author, Tom Symons, said: ‘The costs of unlawful sub-letting demand action that goes beyond a quick one-off crackdown and instead seeks to effect legal change as well as a major shift in societal attitudes towards tenancy fraud. ‘It is imperative that government now makes the changes that will enable local authorities to galvanise their anti-tenancy efforts.’ Click here for a copy of the NLGN report. View more information on these councils