Tenant fraud rises 140% in a year amid fierce competition in the market. Fraud includes fake payslips and naming companies that do not exist. Securing a rental property has been a competitive business for tenants in recent years as demand continues to outstrip supply. With that competition comes the need for tenants to present themselves in the best possible light to landlords if they are going to seal the deal.
However, the lengths some would-be tenants are prepared to go to has taken a turn in the past year amid a sharp rise in the amount of fraud, including producing fake payslips. The amount of fraud among tenants jumped 141 per cent last year compared to 2022, according to analysis by referencing experts Goodlord. Some tenants are resorting to fraud in order to secure a new home amid a fiercely competitive rental market. It suggests some tenants feel they have no option but take extreme steps to ensure they are in the running for a rental property. Goodlord analysed a sample of 300,000 tenancy applications from 2022 and compared it to a similar number last year. In 2022, 1.2 cases of fraud were picked up for every 1,000 applications. Last year, that rose to 2.9 cases in every 1,000, a rise of 141.6 per cent annually. The most common form of fraud detected in the data was payslip fraud. This is where tenants either boost their income or edit its source, such as changing a company name