At least ten council-owned properties in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham have been discovered being illegally advertised for short-term lets on platforms like Airbnb. The local authority is now engaged in legal efforts to repossess these socially rented homes, which are intended for local families at discounted rates.
Council Battles Platform Over Information
Barking and Dagenham Council's affordable housing company, B&D Reside, identified the ten properties being misused between July 2024 and September 2025. To date, the council has successfully reclaimed two of these homes. However, counter-fraud officers report significant obstacles in their investigation, primarily due to a lack of cooperation from Airbnb.
The council's Head of Assurance, Christopher Martin, explained the difficulty, stating that the information provided on Airbnb listings is often a "very, very rough location." He revealed that the exact address is only disclosed after a booking is made, leaving officials with "absolutely no way" of pinpointing properties beforehand. Mr. Martin described Airbnb as "notoriously difficult to deal with," confirming that the company has refused to hand over addresses when directly requested.
Sophisticated Fraud Targeting Social Housing
Councillors were warned earlier this year that B&D Reside was being targeted by "sophisticated" attempts at housing fraud. The issue of homes being sublet on Airbnb was raised repeatedly at Audit Committee meetings throughout 2025. Mr. Martin admitted that some fraudulent attempts had been "getting through the system" and that anti-fraud processes "perhaps weren't being followed."
The scale of potential corruption in the borough's housing allocation was further highlighted by Operation Chandrila, a joint investigation with the City of London Police. In September 2025, four people were arrested. Police alleged that "corrupt" housing officers had fraudulently allocated "several hundred" council properties for "personal financial gain." A council spokesperson stated that no one has been charged yet and could not confirm if this operation was linked to the Airbnb sublets.
Ongoing Recovery and Internal Issues
A Barking and Dagenham Council spokesperson confirmed that work is "ongoing to recover" properties known to be misused for short-term letting. The council has initiated legal proceedings to compel Airbnb to release address data and has also supplied the platform with a list of addresses that should not be advertised.
In a separate internal case, the council's Audit Committee was informed in March 2025 that a housing officer had been dismissed for allocating a home to herself. An investigation into this matter is continuing, but it is not connected to Operation Chandrila. These incidents collectively paint a picture of a social housing system under pressure from both external exploitation and internal malpractice.
The situation in Barking and Dagenham underscores a wider challenge facing London's councils: protecting scarce affordable housing stock from being converted into lucrative, illegal holiday lets, often with limited power to intervene without full cooperation from online rental platforms.
