Greenwich's anti-fraud efforts have recovered six properties, including five council tenancies and one registered social landlord (RSL) property, according to a report presented at the Greenwich Audit and Risk Management Panel meeting on Wednesday, 18 June 2025. The recoveries are valued at £558,000, using the Cabinet Office's notional value of £93,000 per property.
The recoveries were a result of investigations and proactive activity into illegal occupation and sub-letting. The IAAF Annual Performance 2024-25.pdf report detailed that Anti-Fraud received 24 allegations of tenancy and housing-related fraud between April 2024 and March 2025.
The report also highlighted that the Unauthorised Occupation Team within the Housing and Safer Communities department recovered an additional 14 properties, bringing the total value of recovered council tenancies to £1.767 million. Including the RSL property, the total value recovered reaches £1.860 million.
Beyond tenancy fraud, Anti-Fraud investigated 111 corporate-related matters during the same period. These investigations led to various outcomes, including referrals to HR/Management, exemption removals, and warning letters. A chart detailing the outcomes of closed cases is available in the IAAF Annual Performance 2024-25.pdf.
The Audit and Risk Management Panel also reviewed the Internal Audit Plan & Strategy 2025-26.pdf and the Internal Audit Charter 2025-26.pdf at the meeting. The Head of Internal Audit's opinion is that the arrangements for governance, risk management and internal control provided Reasonable Assurance that material risks, which could impact upon the achievement of the Council's objectives, were being identified and managed effectively. However, improvements are required in the areas identified in audit reports to enhance the adequacy and effectiveness of the framework of governance, risk management and internal control."