Vulnerable women on housing waiting lists say they have been targeted by “fixers” promising help to jump the queue in return for
corrupt payments of up to £5,000.
During a two-month investigation, the Mirror spoke to a number of women from the Somali community in Tower Hamlets, London’s poorest borough.
A mum-of-five who talked to us has been in temporary accommodation for 12 years since being made homeless.
She claims that in 2016, after she was moved to a borough more than 10 miles away, she was asked to make a payment of £5,000 to a corrupt Tower Hamlets official at the housing advice service.
She said: “I was complaining about the bidding system for properties and he told me ‘there are other options but you have to pay... it is off the record’.
“When I complained he said, ‘Oh, sister, I am trying to help you’.
“I said, ‘How are you helping me? If it is cheating, I don’t want to be involved’.” She claims the man recognised her at the same office in 2018.
The mum added: “He said if I could make the payment there is a collection of homes I could choose from. He said, ‘Whenever you are ready, make contact’.
“I told him it was terrible. I’ve always [trusted] the process. I thought they were taking care of me.”
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A second woman said she paid £4,700 to a man – calling himself Ahmed – who followed her out of the council offices offering to help her move up the housing list.
Three months after she met the man at his offices elsewhere to make bank transfers, the promise of a property had not been honoured. She did not complain to the police or the council but did speak to her bank, which returned half the money.
The Mirror’s investigation also found that as recently as two months ago, the woman was approached through social media app Snapchat by another man claiming to be able to get her shortlisted for homes. The fixer asked for £3,500.
In March 2022, there were 21,840 households on the council’s housing waiting list – one of the longest waiting lists in England. Local campaigner Abdirahim Hassan, co-founder of Coffee Afrik, believes Somali families are discriminated against when they apply for housing.
Somali women have protested outside the council’s HQ calling for action on housing. Last month, a third woman communicated with a man on a Facebook group who claimed to work for nearby Newham council and to have access to someone at Tower Hamlets council.
The middleman claimed that for £3,000 he could get his connection to assist her get housing. The woman said: “Properties haven’t come up for months and you’re thinking, ‘this is where they’re going’.” The mum-of-three became homeless while pregnant after her landlord decided to renovate her property.
She is in temporary two-bedroom accommodation and said: “My daughter is 14, my sons [are 11 and nine] and they all have to sleep in the same room.”
Tower Hamlets council said: “We have not received any information about alleged bribes or fraud that can be investigated. We have been actively working with these families via their representative for months to ensure their complaints are thoroughly investigated.
“No substantiated evidence in relation to bribery or fraud has been presented to us.” It said it found no council involvement in the three cases from 2021 onwards and that it had not received a complaint about the alleged payment requests in 2016 and 2018, despite our source saying she told council staff.
Newham council said: “While we have no record of a current or former employee with that name or received any evidence this is taking place in Newham, it is concerning someone is trying to take advantage of families waiting for a permanent home.”
