THE Government is giving Kirklees Council £141,000 to tackle ‘tenancy cheats’.

Housing Minister Mark Prisk announced £9.5m of funding to help local authorities crack down on social housing fraud.

It’s designed to stop people sub-letting illegally and making a profit on low-cost housing.

Leeds is the only other West Yorkshire council to receive funding, with them being awarded £170,000.

The MP said: “Tenancy cheats and fraudsters deny social homes to people in genuine need of this valuable resource, while costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds.

“That’s why we’re cracking down on this criminal behaviour with a £9.5 million fund to back locally-led efforts to tackle the tenancy cheats and giving greater powers to the police and councils so perpetrators face the full force of the law.”

The Government backed a Private Member’s Bill which makes sub-letting a criminal offence.