RENT arrears are rocketing with nearly one-third of all council tenants behind with payments.

A colossal £1.8 million is owed by current and former tenants, and the debts continue to pile up.

Despite that, housing bosses have prosecuted and evicted only half the number they did last year.

A report presented to councillors behind closed doors reveals that current rent arrears total £846,671, up from £815,085 last year.

More than 3,000 tenants, out of 9,500, are in arrears, and almost 700 of them owe more than 13 weeks' rent.

On top of that, the amount owed by 3,800 former tenants has shot up by 50 per cent to £932,734. The number of voids, or empty houses, is now 311, up from 209 from last September. The housing department offered 700 tenancies in the last three months, and 300 of those were refused.

Councillor Kevin Scarlett, housing chairman, said: "Bury needs to improve its performance on rent arrears, there's no doubt about that, but there are a number of factors to blame.

"A lot of rent arrears are related to delays in housing benefit claims. We are looking at putting housing benefit staff, who are separate from officers who collect the rent, in local housing offices. Processing claims more speedily should bring down rent arrears.

"We are also looking at ways of making rent payment easier, for instance at post offices and supermarkets, and offering tenants more money advice."

And he said: "We are not reducing in any way our stance in tackling persistent non-payers where there's no cause for them to be in arrears."

Coun Scarlett attributed the rise in voids to the fact that more than 100 properties in East ward had lain vacant after tenants were moved out during regeneration of the area.

He also suggested that the amount owed by former tenants had jumped so much because, this year, the council had decided not to write off any of those arrears.

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