Council tenants owe £1.2m in unpaid rent

Council house tenants in Dudley owe more than £1.2million in unpaid rent, new figures reveal.

Housing bosses at Dudley Council want to reduce the amount of debt by helping residents struggling to pay their bills.

Following the introduction of specialist teams tasked with slashing the amount of money owed, the authority has been able claw back £307,199 since April 2009 but the total amount of rent arrears still stands at £1,245,856.

The council is introducing evening telephone sessions to make it easier to contact tenants.

The authority is also taking payments directly over the phone when making repayment agreements

Former council tenants have paid back £339,488 after being sent reminder letters by housing bosses at the authority.

Dudley Council's cabinet member for adult, community and housing services, Councillor David Simms said: "We are always looking at ways of controlling and reducing the level of rent arrears and the introduction of specialist income management teams in April 2009 has been very successful. The teams have risen to the challenge and at the end of December 2010 had reduced the level of current rent arrears to £1,245,856 which represents a reduction of £307,199 since April 2009.

"In addition, the specialist income management teams have also collected £339,488 from former tenant debt by sending reminder letters to the appropriate forwarding addresses."

Earlier this month, the council approved a rent increase of an average 6.7 per cent for tenants in Dudley.

It was the biggest increase in almost a decade for the people who live in the borough's 24,000 council homes. The move is expected to bring in £5.2m but Dudley Council will be allowed to keep only £1.4m with the rest going to the Government.