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Tenancy fraud is no joke.

One bad let, years you can't take back.

Goodlord's latest fraud data shows the changing face of modern tenancy fraud, and how leading agencies are responding.

Tenancy fraud clown

£ 0 b

The potential annual cost of tenancy fraud to the UK's private rented sector.

+ 0 %

Fake employment references are now the fastest-growing form of tenancy fraud.

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The number of months it can take to recover possession after a bad let.

For years, spotting fraud meant checking for fake documents. Now, AI can generate a convincing payslip, bank statement, or employment reference in seconds.
Our latest report shows how fraud is evolving, what it's costing the sector, and how leading agencies are staying one step ahead.

 

Fraud heatmap

Fraud isn't spread evenly. It follows opportunity.

Greater London remains the country's clear fraud hotspot, running at roughly twice the national average. The West Midlands has the second-highest rate. Scotland, Wales, the North East and the South West sit consistently lowest. Rentals above £10,000 a month see almost 20 fraud cases per 1,000 applications.

Average fraud rates by region, April 2023 to July 2026.

Region0%
⚠ —
Completed references-
Flagged for fraud-
Confirmed fraud-
High activity
Low activity
National average
3.3 per 1,000

The tactics

The signs aren't always obvious any more.

Fraudsters aren't just forging one document any more. They're building synthetic identities that hold together from end to end. Identity manipulation alone is up 140.4% year on year. Viewed individually, each piece of evidence can look genuine. Together, they tell a believable story.

Snakes on a desk

Portfolio size

Number of properties

Total potential fraud risk exposure

£480,070

£9,601 estimated financial exposure for a single fraudulent tenancy

Cost calculator

What could tenancy fraud really cost your portfolio?

Enter the number of properties you manage to see an estimate of the annual cost exposure fraud could represent for your agency, covering legal costs, arrears and void periods, based on Goodlord's latest fraud data.

Modern defence

Confidence should never come from a document alone.

The strongest referencing decisions come from trusted, independently verified sources, not paperwork that can be edited or generated in seconds. Open Banking, HMRC and payroll checks confirm who someone is, backed by human judgement and Rent Protection.

A fake tenant in a mirror

Key takeaways

What you'll gain from the report

The full data set
The full data set

Drawn from a sample of over one million completed references between April 2023 and July 2026, including regional breakdowns, fraud-type growth rates, and the property bands most at risk.

The tactics, explained
The tactics, explained

How AI-generated documents and synthetic identities are changing what a fraudulent application actually looks like.

A prevention playbook
A prevention playbook

Practical, steps agencies are already using to catch fraud before a tenancy is signed.

Let it, don't REGRET it.

Get the full data, the tactics fraudsters are using now, and what Goodlord recommends every agency does next.