Council’s key amnesty is first step in tackling tenancy fraud city-wide
Manchester City Council is allowing tenants to hand in their keys without legal action against them if they are renting out a council or housing association home illegally.
The council said the “key amnesty”, which will run until Friday 27 February 2026, is the first stage of a campaign to tackle tenancy fraud in the city.
Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “Every fraudulent tenancy – whether by accident or by deception – is a home that could be made available for families on the housing register or in temporary accommodation.
“Knowingly committing tenancy fraud is not a victimless crime – it impacts Manchester families, communities and costs the council millions of pounds every year. Money that could be better spent on services and support for our residents.”
Around 20,000 households are currently on Manchester’s housing register (which includes around 11,000 households in priority need) and the council estimates that around 3% to 6% of council tenancies could be fraudulent.
Once the key amnesty comes to an end, a team of officers will continue to work through potential fraud cases. Where criminal fraud is found, officers will begin prosecution action against those responsible. The key amnesty does not apply where an active investigation around a fraud case is already underway.
All the organisations signed up to the Manchester Housing Providers Partnership, which brings together housing providers and the council, will help the council report and investigate potential fraud cases.
Some examples of fraudulent tenancies found by the council include tenants taking up a council tenancy while living elsewhere, enabling them to rent out the home at market rates as well as subletting rooms in a council home without permission and obtaining housing by deception or exchanging a property without permission.
The key amnesty measure comes after the local authority announced its “rightsizing” scheme at the end of January, which offers social housing tenants a cash incentive of £2,500 to move into smaller properties and free up larger homes for families.
As part of its housing strategy established in 2022, the council has a goal of building at least 10,000 new homes for social rent, council and affordable housing by 2032.
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