Wary Warwick councillors are calling for safeguards against relatives being turfed out of council houses if the main tenant dies. 

Warwick District Council this week implemented an updated Tenancy Fraud Policy that primarily focuses on illegal subletting, holding homes that are not the tenant's main residence, using deception to get a council home, carrying out unlawful exchanges of councils homes or giving false information to get through the Right to Buy process.

However, it also includes mention of unlawful tenancy succession, defining that as "where a legal tenant dies and someone who is not legally eligible attempts to succeed to the tenancy".

While acknowledging the need to regulate around council home eligibility, elected officials expressed concern that not every case would fit neatly with the policy.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting that rubber stamped the decision, Cllr Alan Boad said: "Over my years I can't remember how many tenancies have got transferred to people who didn't qualify – for various, mainly social, reasons.

"I am a little concerned that this is being closed down. You could have someone who is 65, 70-odd, their parent has died, they have lived there all their lives and don't know anywhere else.

"Generally, we have kept them in there. There will be others where they may be younger and we say no, you need to go somewhere else, but there are certainly exceptions where you need to succeed the tenancy in a positive way."

Cllr Judy Falp cited an example where one district resident was going to be moved under such circumstances.

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"What they were going to move him to was similar to what he was living in anyway, so it made absolute sense to leave him where he was," she said.

"Thankfully, he was. There are exceptional cases where it makes more sense for people to stay where they are."

Portfolio holder for housing Cllr Jess Melrose acknowledged the points and promised to take them up with officers – the council's employed professionals – in the housing team.

"I completely understand why these comments have been brought up," she said.

"As this is a policy, there are always going to be these exceptions. It may be education as well, if people are coming to the end of their lives looking at the tenancy… so we avoid situations."