A crackdown on social housing fraudsters is being launched in Devon. A partnership of local authorities and social landlords have won Government funding for a two-year project to track them down.
The investigation will focus on people who have been allocated social housing... but instead of living in it, are renting it out and living elsewhere, often making a profit of thousands of pounds.
In mid-Devon alone, it's thought around 60 of these homes - which are intended for people in real need - are occupied by someone with no entitlement to live there.
The project will also aim to identify people who've given false information to secure a home from a local council or the Devon Home Choice register.
The initiative will be funded by 200 thousand pounds from the Government... and helped by new, tougher anti-fraud legislation which comes into force this summer.
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