Rogue landlords are conning the government out of millions of pounds by fraudulently claiming housing benefits for so-called “ghost tenants”.
Criminal gangs are among those buying cheap property to convert into housing for vulnerable people, in some cases claiming welfare payments for tenants who do not live there.
Police have said that owners of a collection of these properties are making up to £500,000 a month by providing supported exempt accommodation for people such as care leavers and domestic abuse survivors.
Now it has emerged that some landlords are also claiming housing benefits for people who have moved out of the property, or never existed in the first place.
On one street in Birmingham nearly a quarter of the properties had been converted into exempt accommodation for vulnerable people, yet at least three were found to be ghost tenancies and a fourth was a cannabis farm.
Matt Downie, chief executive at housing charity Crisis, said it hoped a private member’s bill by the Conservative MP Bob Blackman would help close the loopholes in the system.
