Lockboxes appearing outside flats. A constant stream of unfamiliar people with suitcases. Damage to communal carpets and doors. For residents of one King’s Cross block, the signs of illegal holiday lets have become impossible to ignore.
“Recently there’s been lots of people coming and going with suitcases. They’re not residents of the building,” said Geraldine Geraldi, a leaseholder who has lived in a Notting Hill Genesis block for 26 years. She believes one social housing flat in her building is being illegally sublet as short-term accommodation – and says residents have repeatedly found lockboxes attached to the building, which are removed and relocated somewhere else. “It’s really obvious someone’s trying to avoid detection.”
“Nearly 6,000 social homes in England are suspected of being illegally sublet on Airbnb, data sharing reveals.”
Geraldi’s experience is part of a much wider problem. Nearly 6,000 social homes in England are suspected of being illegally sublet on short-term rental platforms, according to the Tenancy Fraud Forum, a not-for-profit organisation. Now local councils and Airbnb have begun sharing data to identify the fraud, in a scheme coordinated by the Cabinet Office’s fraud team. The government calls it “social housing fraud.”
Early results from participating local authorities have identified 470 cases so far. Offenders face penalties including eviction, fines and up to two years in prison. Subletting an entire social housing property is an offence, while subletting a single room may depend on the terms of the tenancy agreement and require the council’s permission. Fraudsters could include people who have more than one home or are living abroad.
The financial cost is significant. The government estimates that on average, each case costs taxpayers around £78,300 – a figure that could include paying for temporary accommodation for genuine applicants, legal costs to recover property, and rent foregone during the void period between tenancies.
The Tenancy Fraud Forum estimates that at least 1,000 social homes are illegally advertised for short-term lets on Airbnb in London over a year, but if other platforms are included, the number is likely far greater. BBC London has spoken to other residents who describe similar patterns of lockboxes and a constant stream of suitcases, and in some cases antisocial behaviour. Geraldi said the turnover of visitors has led to damage of communal carpets, doors and entrances.
Yet some campaign groups argue that the crackdown will have “very little impact on the acute housing crisis.” While the data-sharing scheme may deter fraudsters, it does little to address the deeper shortage of affordable homes.