Buy to let residential landlords in Oxford who are losing out on potential tenants due to people illegally sub letting their social housing are being given a hand by the City Council.

The authority has created a new role to tackle tenancy fraud after successfully bidding for funding. The position has been backed by Communities and Local Government for six months after the Government announced that they wanted to crack down on social housing tenants who are sub-letting their properties unlawfully.

The issue can cost local Government and Housing Associations millions of pounds each year and deprives people in genuine need of a home.

Sarah White has been appointed to the position and is already looking at a potential 40 cases of subletting and non occupation. She has been at Oxford City Council for 10 years and has previously worked in Housing and Customer Services.

She said: “We don’t know the extent of the problem yet in Oxford and this funding will help us investigate the scale of the problem and ensure that council homes are being used appropriately.

Cllr Joe McManners, Board Member for Housing, said:

“I'm pleased that the Government is funding this scheme as sub-letting is unfair to all involved. We want to make sure anyone who abuses the system is found out.”

If people are illegally renting out their council properties or not living in them, Oxford City Council has the powers to evict them and re-gain the property.