Newham Council has successfully recovered 54 properties in the past year as part of its ongoing crackdown on fraud, according to a recent report. The Quarterly Counter Fraud Progress Report, presented to the Audit Committee on Wednesday 16 July 2025, highlighted the team's efforts between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, which resulted in notional savings of £2,268,000.
The report specifies that 29 properties were recovered as a result of unlawful subletting investigations, and a further 25 through the Temporary Accommodation Project. The Fraud Progress Report AC Final July 25 underscores the council's zero tolerance approach to fraud,
with the Counter Fraud Team playing a crucial role in upholding this commitment. In addition to property recoveries, the team prevented 35 right to buy applications, representing a further £4,476,500 in notional savings. The total notional savings for the year amounted to £7,977,320.
The team is currently working on 146 housing investigations. Of these, 24 are waiting to be heard at civil court, and 5 cases are with the legal team to proceed with potential criminal prosecutions. A breakdown of the team's housing performance is included in the report.
The Audit and Governance Committee reviewed the Quarterly Counter Fraud Progress Report as part of its responsibilities to oversee governance, risk management, and internal controls. The committee was scheduled to discuss other reports as well, including the GDPR Annual Report and the Risk update AGC 16 07 2025.
