£500 to spy on your neighbour: State 'bribe' to tip off council if house is being illegally sub-let

Published 01st Dec 2009

Members of the public are to be given £500 to spy on their neighbours and tip off officials if the address is being sub-let to illegal tenants.

Ministers are setting up hotlines so that people who suspect that illegal letting is going on can report their suspicions to housing officials.

The first 1,000 people who turn in their neighbours and help housing chiefs repossess an unlawfully occupied house or flat will receive a £500 cash reward.

But the initiative has been attacked by civil liberty campaigners who warn that it is another example of ministers creating 'an army of citizen snoopers'.
People are to be offered a £500 bribe to tip-off the authorities about suspected illegal sub-letting

People are to be offered a £500 bribe to tip-off the authorities about suspected illegal sub-letting

It is believed that as many as 200,000 addresses in England - around five per cent of the town halls' housing stock - could be home to unauthorised tenants.

Apart from hotlines, whistle-blowing neighbours will be encouraged to pass on their secrets to special websites and email addresses.

Ministers say they are determined to act and return illegally-let homes to desperate families at the top of council waiting lists.

Ministers believe their campaign against illegal letting will also help clamp down on other social problems - such as prostitution, cannabis factories, fraud and illegal immigration.

Dylan Sharpe, from the organisation Big Brother Watch, said: 'This shows the Government is creating an army of citizen snoopers.'

While there are around 1,800,000 families on waiting lists, only 60,000 social homes have been built in England since 2007.

The moves to clamp down on illegal sub-letting are due to begin this week with investigations being launched into 8,000 suspected tenancy cheats.

The initiative involving more than 140 local councils comes after a check on council records carried out by the Audit Commission.

In parts of Britain, tenants who break the rules and sub-let are raking in four times the amount of rent they pay to their town hall or housing association.

One London housing association is investigating 56 cases of suspected illegal occupation - including one tenant living in France who has pocketed 32,000-pounds from subletting over the past three years.

Housing minister John Healey said: 'We can't allow cheats to hang on to the tenancies of council houses they don't need and don't live in.'

He added: 'Public tip-offs are vital in tackling this problem. So I am also offering £500 to anyone who information leads to us recovering one of the first 1,000 homes.

'We can't allow cheats to hang onto the tenancies of council houses they don't need and don't live in.

'I want people to feel the system for housing families who need homes is fairer and that's why I'm launching this national crackdown on tenancy fraud.

'This could free up as many as 10,000 homes for those on council waiting lists.'

Housing officials will be particularly targeting homes in prized city centre locations where some of the most lucrative sub-letting is thought to go on.

They will begin making snap visits to these properties during the run-up to Christmas.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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