Landlords are being told to be vigilant after new rental fraud data revealed a significant increase in this type of crime as a shortage of stock and growing numbers of desperate tenants make for easy pickings.
Typically involving fraudsters impersonating landlords and then ripping off prospective tenants by asking them for a deposit prior to moving in, the number of reported cases has increased by 55% over the past two years, says the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau operated by City of London Police.
Comparing 2020 to 2022, the financial loss experienced within the private rented sector jumped from £5.8 million to £9.5 million although the amount of money stolen over the past four years is just shy of £31.5 million.
Fraudsters usually steal pictures from Rightmove or letting agents’ websites and then use them, along with the property description blurb, to advertise them on unregulated classified websites such as Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, luring in unsuspecting and – these days – increasingly desperate tenants.
Shortage
“Right now we are seeing a shortage of good, affordable rental property,” says Jonathan Rolande, from the National Association of Property Buyers.
“And whenever there is a shortage of something it creates desperation, meaning fraudsters will not be far away.
“With up to 20 applicants for every rental home, tenants find themselves at the very sharpest end of the housing crisis. Those that don’t tick all the right boxes for landlords and letting agents – receiving benefits, pets, adverse credit history, children – will find themselves the most vulnerable.
“Those that can least afford to lose money are ironically the most likely to do so as they desperately seek out a new home away from the regulated sector, relying on personal contacts, Facebook and Gumtree.”
Read our investigation into unregulated classified sites.
