HOUSING chiefs are facing a cash crisis after it was revealed that £100million is needed to repair crumbling council homes in Blackburn and Darwen.

According to the latest figures, Blackburn with Darwen Council needs to raise £8.8 million a year for repairs.

But this year the housing department has managed to raise just £5 million from Government grants and rents.

Experts have predicted £100 million has to be spent over the next 12 years to stop the rot.

The housing department is also faced with plummeting demand for properties. The council is running out of options to deal with the crisis after moves to transfer dilapidated housing estates into the private sector were blocked by the Government.

A report to housing management sub-committee last night said: "With over £100 million required over the next 12 years for the maintenance and improvement of housing stock a continual stream of investment is necessary. This level of funding is presently unattainable."

The council has been told to put in another request to move the housing stock into the private sector next year.

Other options being looked a include the demolition of unpopular housing and a concentration on estates in high demand. Conservative deputy leader John Williams said: "This report has finally put paid to the lie that the council has any options.

"For years they have refused to do anything about the situation and now they are running out of options.

"The only way out of the crisis is to set up independent housing trusts to take control of the borough's housing."

The Labour council's housing chairman, Coun Mohammed Khan, said tenants would make the final decision on the future of the council estates.

He said: "There is nothing new in these figures and we have always let our tenants know what the position is."

Director of housing Phil Richards said the council was not the only authority suffering from the problem of empty properties.

He said: "We have tried everything we can think of but the bottom line is there is no demand for council properties in the borough."

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