BROMSGROVE District Housing Trust (BDHT) has saved £140,000 in the last year by stamping down on right-to-buy fraud.

A dedicated anti-fraud team was set up at the company 18 months ago to investigate suspected fraudsters, after bosses witnessed an increase in tenants' families attempting to illegally purchase properties at a reduced rate.

Mark Robertson, chief executive at BDHT, said: "It is sad that it was necessary for us to develop an anti-fraud team at BDHT to combat the issues that we and other housing associations are facing from a relatively small number of residents.

"However, in response, the team is doing a fantastic job of scrutinising our service provision to ensure only those who are lawfully entitled to properties are allocated them.

"To have saved £140,000 in one year alone is astounding and this money can now be put towards our programme of providing new affordable homes in Bromsgrove as part of our attempt of solving the dire housing crisis we face.”

The anti-fraud team has worked alongside the National Anti-Fraud Network and local residents to identify fraudulent activity and reclaim properties where necessary.

BDHT communities first manager Annette Trow said: "We take housing fraud very seriously at BDHT, as it strips away money that is desperately needed to provide homes for those in urgent need of social housing

“We have seen a particular increase in right-to-buy fraud, where we have received a request to buy a property but we discovered that the named tenant was no longer living at the address and someone else, usually a relative, was trying to purchase the property at a reduced rate.

“The tireless work that our anti-fraud team does to uncover these cases means that a significant amount of money is saved and these properties can be reallocated.”