Recommendation 20

The problem of fraud is going largely unaddressed in supported housing. The NAO investigation found that DLUHC and DWP do not know how much fraud is made possible by gaps in oversight and regulation of supported housing. DWP has calculated that £540 million of Housing Benefit claims in Great Britain in 2021–22 were fraudulent. However, it cannot assess how many Housing Benefit claims for supported housing are fraudulent as it does not know how many Housing Benefit claims are for supported housing.39 DWP acknowledged that there is unscrupulous behaviour in the supported housing sector and there are gaps in how it is dealt with.40 34 C&AG’s Report, Figure 5 35 Qq 7, 8 36 C&AG’s Report, Figure 5 37 Q 26 38 Q 38 39 C&AG’s Report, para 2.6 40 Qq 41, 46 Supported housing 13