Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of local authority and housing association properties in England which are currently being sub-let illegally; and what steps the Government is taking to counter such illegal subletting.

The Department does not hold this information. In 2012 the Audit Commission estimated that nearly 98,000 (4 per cent) social homes in England could be subject to some form of tenancy fraud (Protecting the Public Purse 2012).

The Government supported and implemented the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 which makes it a criminal offence to unlawfully sublet social housing. It also allows the court to award the social landlord the profit the tenant has made from their unlawful sub-letting, regardless of whether the landlord has incurred a loss.

Between 2011 and 2015 the Department provided £19 million to local authorities to help them tackle tenancy fraud; and supported a team within the Chartered Institute of Housing to provide advice and support to all social landlords.