Tenant kicked out for sub-letting his home

Dozens of tenants in Wolverhampton are currently being investigated on suspicion of renting out their council homes after floods of tip-offs, housing bosses revealed today.

Wolverhampton Homes bosses today warned they were clamping down on fraudulent tenants, after a benefits cheat who secretly rented out his council home to another family was kicked out in the first case of its kind in the city.

He was pocketing rental from the unsuspecting tenants for up to three years while also collecting full housing benefits.

He also claimed council tax benefits on the semi-detached house in Parkfields while living elsewhere.

But the man at the centre of the first housing fraud case investigated by Wolverhampton Homes has not been identified and will not be prosecuted, it emerged today.

Mark Henderson, Director of Housing at Wolverhampton Homes that manages 23,500 properties for the city council, said: "We take our role in detecting and preventing fraud very seriously and will not tolerate any abuse of the system.

"While we appreciate that the vast majority of our tenants are honest and this is a tiny small drop in the ocean, it remains a major issue which must be tackled, particularly when Wolverhampton currently has 12,000 on the Housing Register.

"Our message to all tenancy cheats is clear — we will take action and prosecute as necessary.

"There is limited social housing in Wolverhampton and, through working in partnership with the local community to identify fraudsters, our aim is to ensure our properties are allocated to those in genuine need."

Wolverhampton Homes has launched a crackdown on the tricksters and is urging people to come forward with any information they may have of suspected fraudulent behaviour.

They are now investigating more than 50 tip-offs.

Spokeswoman Lyndsey George said that the case against the unnamed man had been prompted by an anonymous tip-off that a tenant had not been not living in their home.

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