Enfield's counter fraud team recovered 18 social homes and identified £2.7m of fraud in 2025-26, from 623 referrals. Councillors see the figures on 8 September.

Enfield Council’s counter fraud team took back 18 social housing properties and two temporary accommodation homes in 2025-26, and stopped seven Right to Buy applications before they completed.

The figures are in the council’s Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Annual Report 2025-26, published on 28 August and going to the Audit Committee on Tuesday 8 September. (Enfield Council, Audit Committee agenda)

Across all its work the team says it identified £2.7m in detected and prevented fraud. It received 623 referrals during the year and investigated 352 cases. Social housing fraud was, in the report’s words, “the largest area of activity”.

What 18 homes is worth, and what it is worth in the queue

The council puts a notional value of £66,000 on each council property it recovers in London. That figure comes from the Tenancy Fraud Forum’s published methodology, and the report explains it reflects the average cost of providing temporary accommodation together with the investigation and legal costs of getting a property back. On that basis, 18 recoveries are worth roughly £1.19m, which is our arithmetic on the council’s own per-property figure rather than a total the report itself states.

The other measure is the housing register. Enfield allocated 681 social homes to households on its waiting list in 2024 to 2025. (Enfield Council, social housing allocated in 2024 to 2025)

Eighteen properties is about one in every 38 homes the council let that year. The council’s own housing pages are blunt about the shortage: “The number of people who apply for social housing each year far exceeds the amount of housing available. As a result, most people applying will never be offered housing, and those who are will normally have to wait a very long time.”

More cases are still moving. The report lists 13 cases where possession proceedings have been recommended and six already going through the legal possession process.

The £14,000 order against a former tenant

During the year the team secured an Unlawful Profit Order of £14,000 against a former tenant who had unlawfully sublet their council property over a three-year period. Unlawful profit orders are the mechanism by which a council can claim back the rent a subletting tenant collected. The report does not name anyone involved.

The team also used formal information-gathering powers under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud (Power to Require Information) (England) Regulations 2014, or similar powers, on 14 occasions.

Two investigators gained new qualifications during the year, one as an Accredited Financial Investigator and the Counter Fraud Manager as a Senior Appropriate Officer. The report says this gives the council direct access to powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Enfield counter fraud team, 2025-26 in figures Key figures for Enfield Council's counter fraud team in 2025-26: 623 referrals received, 352 cases investigated, 2.7 million pounds of detected and prevented fraud, 18 social housing properties recovered plus two temporary accommodation homes, seven Right to Buy applications prevented, 440,000 pounds of fraud and error found through the National Fraud Initiative, 14 uses of social housing fraud information powers, and 370,000 pounds spent on investigation and prosecution by a team of 5.5 full time equivalent staff. Enfield's counter fraud team in 2025-26 Every figure below is reported by the council to its own Audit Committee on 8 September 2026. 623 referrals received all fraud types, year to 31 March 2026 352 cases investigated social housing fraud the largest area £2.7m detected and prevented fraud across all service areas 18 + 2 social homes recovered, plus 2 temporary accommodation 7 Right to Buy applications prevented £440k fraud and error found through the National Fraud Initiative 14 uses of social housing fraud information powers £370k spent investigating and prosecuting fraud 5.5 full time equivalent staff, 6 people in total Source: Enfield Council, Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Annual Report 2025-26, Audit Committee, 8 September 2026. Graphic by Enfield Today
The team is six people. The £370k figure and the staffing numbers are published because the Local Government Transparency Code requires councils to disclose them.

Whistleblowing referrals went up from two to ten

The report’s other notable number is small in absolute terms and large as a change. Whistleblowing referrals rose from two in 2024-25 to ten in 2025-26, a 400% increase the council attributes to posters in its buildings, regular reminders to staff and promotion of a dedicated SpeakOut email address.

Of the ten, two were still being investigated when the report was written. Of the other eight:

  • one allegation was substantiated
  • one was partially substantiated
  • four were not substantiated
  • in two cases there was not enough information to investigate, or no investigation was considered necessary

The report says outcomes from the eight concluded cases “have included individuals leaving the Council, recovery of funds, and process improvements to strengthen governance and internal controls”. It gives no further detail and names nobody.

Where else the money was found

Enfield takes part in the National Fraud Initiative, the Cabinet Office data-matching exercise that cross-checks council records against each other and against other public bodies. The main NFI exercise identified fraud and error with a combined value of £440,000, spread across Blue Badges, Personal Budgets, Pensions, Housing Waiting Lists, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support.

A new targeted housing fraud programme run jointly with Housing Services has recovered two properties so far. The report says the full outcomes of that work will land in the 2026-27 figures.

What it means for you

  • The report is public and so is the meeting. Audit Committee, Tuesday 8 September, 7pm, Conference Room, Civic Centre, Silver Street, EN1 3XA. The full report is on the council’s website now.
  • If you are on the housing register, 18 recovered homes is real but small next to 681 lettings in a year. It is not a substitute for supply, and the council does not present it as one.
  • Subletting a council tenancy is a criminal offence under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013, and an unlawful profit order lets the council reclaim the rent collected. The £14,000 order in this report covered three years of subletting.
  • Right to Buy applications are all screened. The report says the team scrutinises every one for potential fraud, misuse of the scheme and ineligible applicants, and stopped seven last year.
  • No individual is named in the report, and no case in it is a court result reported here. Where allegations were not substantiated, the report says so.

For the rest of what the council charges and collects, see our guide to Enfield council tax bands.

Sources