TWELVE council homes, being illegally sub-let by fraudsters, have been seized back by Basildon Council.

The council-owned homes were illegally sub-let by tenants who live elsewhere and charge other people to live in them.

Some of the homes had also been left vacant or were being lived in by people who provided false information in order to get the home in the first place.

Basildon Council launched a crackdown on housing cheats in May this year.

At its launch the council gave housing cheats two weeks in which to come clean and hand back keys to properties they weren’t entitled to.

The council’s investigation team is now probing 75 other cases of suspected housing fraud while another 14 cases are expected to result in court prosecutions.

Phil Turner, Basildon Council’s cabinet member for resources, hailed the crackdown a success.

He said: “We did something very unusual by starting this crackdown with a two week amnesty. That was a chance for fraudsters to come clean without facing court action.

“This created a lot of publicity, and it seems when the excitement died down, there were people committing housing fraud who assumed they had slipped through the net. This was not the case.

“Residents have been vigilant in reporting their suspicions and our dedicated investigations team have been using the time to build cases.

“The fact we have been able to recover 12 properties that can be made available for families in genuine need is a sign of success.”

By the end of last month there were still 4,597 genuine people on the council’s housing list.

To report a suspected housing fraud, call 01268 294566.