If you know of someone who is abusing the social housing system, you can now alert the authorities by calling on 8007 2294, a service that has just been launched by the government.

The abuse can include renting out of a government property to third parties and squatting. There have also been cases where the relatives of the tenant keep the property as a second home after the tenant's death.

The government hosts tenants in 7,200 apartments, Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes told the media this morning.

Although it has a social conscience, the government will not tolerate abuse, he added. Last year the government recovered 89 properties following inspections which uncovered abuse.

Mr Galdes said the authority’s enforcement department was being strengthened, but the authority was also reaching out to the public who could act as a “watchdog”, he said, urging people to report any suspicious activity in neighboring apartments.

Mr Galdes noted that the issue of housing had increased over the past years following an increase in rents, resulting in an increased burden on the state.

Asked how such abuse could go unnoticed, Housing CEO Stephen McCarthy said that while the authority was constantly monitoring the apartments, in some cases it was not notified that a place had been vacated.

There were residents who moved out into the property without informing the authority. After a few months, squatters moved into the vacated premises.

There were also cases where relatives of deceased tenants lived elsewhere and kept the vacated property as a second home.

Mr McCarthy explained that relatives of the original tenant had to inform the authority whether they wanted to continue living in the property following their demise. The relatives would then be granted permission following a means test.