Rome loses €100 million annually in social housing scam.

Rome is preparing to evict families who are no longer entitled to live in social housing accommodation provided by the city, following an ongoing investigation begun by the capital's commissioner Francesco Paolo Tronca.

The so-called Affittopoli probe has uncovered widespread anomalies in Rome's housing sector, including bogus contracts and monthly rents in exclusive locations for as little as €10. Tronca estimates that the annual losses incurred by the city over its management of social housing "far exceed €100 million."

Tronca, who requested the investigation after being installed as commissioner last November, said that city authorities would be backed up by law enforcement agencies when carrying out the evictions.

The city has established a special task force which is currently setting out a "road map" for the eviction process.

The investigation into social housing irregularities has been completed in the central municipio 1 district and is now being extended to municipio II, incorporating Flaminio and S. Lorenzo, where the bulk of the city's social housing accommodation is located, according to a report in Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica.

In recent days housing rights protesters clashed with police during an eviction attempt on squatted property in Rome's Ostiense neighbourhood, while a separate sit-in protest took place inside the church of S. Andrea della Valle near Piazza Navona.