Two people have been arrested as part of a City of London Police investigation into alleged bribery and corruption involving the allocation of council homes in the east London borough of Barking and Dagenham.
Officers said the probe, named Operation Chandrilla, followed allegations that "several hundred" council properties were improperly allocated between Nov. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2024. The force said suspects had taken "finder's fees" and charged inflated rents, and that some of the homes were later sub-let by associates of the alleged perpetrators. The two suspects were arrested on Thursday and taken into custody at Bishopsgate for interview.
City of London Police said prospective tenants were contacted via social media and were provided with contacts to obtain affordable housing, bypassing standard waiting lists. The force added that some of the rents paid as part of the scheme were paid in part to London Borough of Barking and Dagenham while a significant portion was not.
The borough's counter-corruption team and its wholly owned housing company, BD Reside, are assisting the investigation, the council said. Dominic Twomey, leader of the Labour-run council, said the authority's fraud team had been investigating a range of issues and that their work had helped lead to the arrests. "Every day, our fraud team are behind the scenes, looking into anything from corruption concerns to illegal sub-letting," he said.
Local authorities administer social and affordable housing, setting their own criteria for eligibility. Barking and Dagenham has more than 5,000 people on its waiting list; the council's published standard waiting times indicate typical waits of six years for a one-bedroom home, 12 years for a two-bedroom, 18 years for a three-bedroom and 67 years for a four-bedroom property.
Nationally, official figures show 1,330,611 households were on waiting lists for affordable housing in 2023-24, a six percent increase on the previous year.
Police said inquiries into the alleged offences remain ongoing. No charges have been filed and the arrested individuals have not been named. The City of London Police has not disclosed further operational details while the investigation continues.