Allegations are growing that substantial rental fraud in both council and private sectors may be linked to organised criminal gangs. 

The Local Democracy Reporting Service told the BBC that “hundreds” of Barking and Dagenham council-owned properties might have been handed out by “corrupt housing officers for personal gain”. 

The City of London Police has launched an investigation.

The Labour-run council says the investigation relates only to homes managed by a private housing company owned by the authority. A Labour councillor quoted in the report alleges that some applicants used false documents to secure properties, while others, despite using legitimate paperwork, had “the sole intention of using that property for various things other than living there”, including listing them on Airbnb.

The councillor adds: “If they’re being used for every possible criminal use, it suggests to me that we’re heading down the route of organised crime here.

“You see it with private tenanted properties – some of them turn up, they’re being used as cannabis farms. Some of them are being used for illicit uses as well – completely unethical and immoral uses.”

A spokesman of the City of London Police’s Domestic Corruption Unit (DCU) tells the BBC inquiries are ongoing and “focused on identifying the key players involved.

“Investigations into large-scale fraud are complex and can take time, particularly where there are many individuals and large volumes of material to examine” he tells the BBC.