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Two ‘corrupt’ housing officers at a Labour-run authority have been arrested after being suspected of taking bribes before fraudulently allocating hundreds of council houses to tenants.
The officers allegedly demanded cash for properties before wrongly issuing hundreds of social homes in the east London borough of Barking and Dagenham.
They took ‘finders fees’ and charged ‘inflated rents’ while luring prospective tenants by promising they could skip long waiting lists for the houses.
Some of these fees were partly paid to the council but a significant portion was not.
The fraudsters advertised on social media, and provided those interested with contacts to obtain affordable housing.
Many of these properties, which tenants were allegedly overcharged for, were sub-let by associates of the housing officers, City of London Police said.
They launched a joint bribery and corruption investigation, named Operation Chandrilla, after receiving allegations that ‘several hundred’ council homes were wrongly handed out between November 2020 and December 2024.
Two people were arrested on Thursday and taken to custody in Bishopsgate to be interviewed.
Two corrupt housing officers at a Labour-run authority have been arrested after being suspected of taking bribes before fraudulently allocating hundreds of council houses to tenants. (File image)
The officers allegedly demanded cash for properties before wrongly issuing hundreds of social homes in the east London borough of Barking and Dagenham (File image)
The force said: ‘As part of this process, prospective tenants paid fraudsters “finder’s fees”, and inflated rents.
‘Some rents were paid in part to London Borough Barking Dagenham Council and some were not.’
The council’s counter-corruption team is also assisting in the investigation alongside its wholly-owned housing company, BD Reside.
Dominic Twomey, leader of the Labour council, said: ‘Every day, our fraud team are behind the scenes, looking into anything from corruption concerns to illegal sub-letting.
‘Ultimately their job is to make sure public money is being spent in the way it should be, so I’m really pleased their proactive work has helped lead to today’s arrests.’
Enquiries into the alleged offences remain ongoing.
City of London Police said: ‘Between November 1 2020 and December 31 2024… several hundred LBBD properties were… allocated to members of the local community by London Borough of Barking and Dagenham corrupt Housing Officers.’
Affordable housing is administered by local authorities and offers lower rates for homes to support lower-income households and other priority groups.
Individual councils set their own criteria for who qualifies.
More than 5,000 people are on the waiting list for affordable housing in Barking and Dagenham and standard waiting times for a three bedroom social house in the council is 18 years, with a 67 year wait for a four bed house.
Even a one bedroom house has a standard waiting list of six years, with 12 years for a two bed.
Latest figures show that 1,330,611 households were on the waiting list for affordable housing countrywide, as of 2023-24, a six per cent increase on the previous year.
