Hammersmith and Fulham Council's Corporate Anti-Fraud Service (CAFS) has successfully recovered £475,553 through confiscation orders and prevented an estimated £994,313 in fraud between April 2025 and March 2026.
The figures were revealed in the Corporate Anti-Fraud Service Annual Report, presented to the council's Audit Committee on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. The report detailed that the council processed 139 new referrals and concluded 181 investigations during the period.
Tenancy fraud was identified as a significant issue, accounting for over 70% of the investigator's caseload. Between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, CAFS successfully recovered 18 misused properties. These properties were recovered due to reasons such as abandonment, subletting, non-residency, and data matches. Specific cases included properties recovered due to abandonment (e.g., Linacre Court, White City, Wood Lane) and subletting (e.g., White City, Sulivan Court). These recoveries prevented an estimated £527,900 in fraud and identified £484,770 in notional losses. The recovered properties were then reallocated to residents in genuine need of housing support.
The council also joined the London NFI Fraud Hub, a data-matching platform, which has identified seven positive outcomes. These include two cases of tenancy fraud due to undisclosed changes in circumstances, preventing £105,250 in fraud and resulting in an estimated loss of £16,380. Additionally, five cases of housing application fraud were identified, preventing £20,200 in fraud. The Hub also contributed to cleansing and correcting 65 records, improving analytical accuracy and reducing false alarms.
Mark Dalton, Fraud Manager, presented the report. Councillor Charlotte Moar inquired if increased spending on anti-fraud measures, particularly for tenancy fraud, could lead to greater savings. It was confirmed that the council was looking to invest more of the recovered funds into tenancy fraud investigations, as this was a significant issue that deprived the council of homes. The statement it really is, it pays dividends to invest more in that
suggests a positive return on investment, though specific projections or metrics are not detailed.
Councillor Adrian Pascu-Tulbure had previously inquired about the increase in internal fraud cases from four to eleven, to which officers stated they would provide a detailed answer at a later date.
The meeting information indicates that the recovery process involves investigations, which can be resource-intensive, and the utilization of legislation such as the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. Specific details on the typical duration of this process are not provided.
The Corporate Anti-Fraud Service Annual Report states that between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, the council prevented an estimated £994,313 in fraud and identified a notional loss of £669,545. This notional loss represents fraud that was identified but may have continued if not for the intervention. However, the total value of fraud that occurred but was not detected or prevented at all is not explicitly stated.
The Audit Committee agreed to note the Corporate Anti-Fraud Service Annual Report, which can be found in the Public reports pack 23rd-Jun-2026 19.00 Audit Committee.
