Housing Minister Grant Shapps has launched a new national crackdown on tenancy cheats who unlawfully sublet their council or housing association properties and deny homes to people who really need them.

At least 50,000 social homes in England are being unlawfully occupied - providing the equivalent number of new social homes would cost more than £5 billion, and it is estimated that the number of unlawfully occupied properties ranges from one in 100 in some parts of the country to more than one in 20 social homes in some inner London boroughs.

Tenancy cheats live elsewhere, but can earn thousands of pounds a year charging higher rents for their social homes. If caught, these cheats lose their tenancy and can lose their right to a social home in future.

The Minister also said he is looking to lower the cost of using the services of credit reference agencies to help identify potential cheats. The Government is working with the National Fraud Authority to develop standard contracts for councils to agree with credit reference agencies, at standard prices, to lower the costs of using their services.