A MINI summit will look at the problems of old terrace houses in Burnley and Pendle when Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong visits the area on Wednesday.

Initially, Mrs Armstrong will be in Pendle, where six out of ten of all the houses were built before 1919. Almost nine out of ten homes are privately owned, and of those 92 per cent are owner occupied.

The decrepit state of many houses in Burnley and Pendle was highlighted four years ago in an inquiry led by the then Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev Ronald Milner.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice said: "Too much of our housing is past its sell by date.

"We certainly have our problems in Pendle but across a whole swathe of East Lancashire much of our housing is in a lamentable condition.

"I want the Government to address the problems of the region and not simply in my own patch."

Pendle Council wrote to Mrs Armstrong to urge her to visit after an invitation from Mr Prentice looked like being unsuccessful.

Council leader Alan Davies said he and his colleagues want to tell Mrs Armstrong about plans to tackle Pendle's main housing problems. They also intend to press for Government support to get cash towards the cost of turning Hartley Hospital, Colne, into a retirement village.

The chairman of the service committee, Earby councillor Doris Allen said: "Housing is a top priority for the council, but for too many years our efforts have been hampered by lack of support and understanding by the Conservative Government.

"We want to invest in our old housing in partnership with the owners, but we can only do so with proper funding from central government.

"We will be telling the Minister that Pendle has an excellent record on its own housing estates and that we want to keep our council housing under local democratic control.

"We do not want to sell off the council housing to a housing company, but we need fair treatment so we can continue to keep the houses properly repaired and improved to up-to-date modern standards."

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