Deceiving government to get cheap housing

31-10-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. I live in London, UK with my husband and my two kids. We rent a flat there, the rent is very expensive, and the property is very small. In order to get a council house, we either need to wait for ages or be homeless. The agency which we rent from has offered to evict us, but we would pay the court fees. The eviction would take place because we are overcrowded, and we would have to stay in a hostel or a temporary house before getting a council house. My husband suffers from his blood pressure, and he cannot rest with the kids. Most of the time, our marriage is at risk. I want to ask if it is halal to go through with this procedure? Thank you, and may Allaah reward you.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

What is mentioned in the question is a trick against the government to provide you with housing because you agreed with the agency that rents the house to you to sue you in court in order to evict you from the house so that you would get a temporary housing and then a permanent housing because of being evicted through this unreal displacement, as we understand from the question.

Therefore, it is not permissible for you to do that because it is fraud and deceit to obtain from the government that it provides you with housing while you do not fulfill the conditions of being entitled to it.

If you are in need of government housing, then you should undertake the legitimate means in order to get it.

Allaah knows best.