A Liverpool man who was sub-letting his social housing flat to tourists has been ordered to pay back the profits he has made.

The tenant had been renting the Riverside property on Chatham Street, Liverpool, for two years, and was caught committing tenancy fraud after a housing officer visited the property and became suspicious.

The housing officer suspected that the tenant was subletting the flat to people via a well-known website that provides temporary accommodation to tourists, so she referred the case to Riverside’s tenancy fraud team. From there Riverside’s Counter Fraud Specialist, investigated further and carried out intelligence work.

The investigation found there was clear evidence that the tenant was misusing the property by sub-letting it and making a profit from the proceeds. Riverside contacted the tenant about this and served him with Notice to Quit, which prompted him to hand the keys back to Riverside within a week.

Riverside also took legal action and the case was heard at County Court in Liverpool to retrieve any profit that was made. The judge awarded Riverside an Unlawful Profit Order which means that the former tenant must pay back £6000 that he had made unlawfully.

Speaking about the case, Michael Anderson, Regional Services Manager response for Counter Fraud service said: “This is our first Unlawful Profit Order that we have taken to court so we are really pleased with the result.

“As a social landlord we are responsible for ensuring that the properties we provide are not being misused but are being lived in by the person named on the tenancy agreement.

“It is imperative that we protect our properties from fraud so that we can provide our homes to those who really need them. We take tenancy fraud very seriously and will act upon information identifying any of our properties are being misused.”

If you suspect someone living in a Riverside property is committing tenancy fraud, then get in touch with the Riverside Tenancy Fraud team. Visit Tenancy fraud page for more details.