The level of housing benefit fraud and error in Great Britain has been continuously measured since 2002-03. The latest estimates are for the year from October 2004 to September 2005. The percentage of expenditure overpaid due to fraud is estimated to have dropped by 38 per cent. since 2002-03. Estimates of both the percentage and amount of housing benefit expenditure overpaid due to fraud in England are presented in the following table. When comparing levels of fraud in different years it is more appropriate to look at percentages, as the amount overpaid is also affected by changes in rents and caseload.
Period Estimated percentage overpaid Estimated amount overpaid (£ million) April 2002—March 2003 1.8 160 April 2003—March 2004 1.1 100 April 2004—March 2005 1.1 110 October 2004—September 2005 1.0 100 Notes: 1. These estimates are based on a sample of housing benefit cases, so are subject to a large degree of uncertainty. 2. Around 15 per cent. of housing benefit cases lie outside the scope of this sample, so the estimates do not cover the whole of HB expenditure. 3. Further information on housing benefit fraud and error is available from National Statistics reports at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/fraud_hb/fraud_hb.asp