York council tenant arrears skyrocket to £1.8m - meeting told

A meeting of the council's housing scrutiny committee was told council tenants in the city owe nearly £1.8m in rent

More than 40% of council tenants in York are in arrears with their rent due to austerity, Covid and soaring prices, housing chiefs say.

The situation has been described as a "perfect storm", with over 3,000 tenants having a combined debt of nearly £1.8m in October.

Den Southall, head of housing services at City of York Council, said arrears for some tenants had "skyrocketed".

But, he said evictions were always a last resort for the authority.

A meeting of the council's housing scrutiny committee was told the authority currently had 532 cases in the legal system relating to arrears, but this included cases stretching back over a long period.

"Generally, when a case gets to eviction, it means that we have tried absolutely everything time and time again," Mr Southall said.

Councillors also heard that final decisions on evictions were made by county court judges, not the council.

"Judges are very reluctant - in the middle of a cost of living crisis and on the back of the last 10 or 12 years - to evict people, particularly where they have vulnerabilities," Mr Southall said.

"We don't go in and say 'I want my rent'," Mr Southall said. "We look at the whole family situation and we make appropriate referrals."

There were also issues relating to the council's finances, the meeting was told.

The authority's housing revenue account (HRA) - its spending and income relating to the management and maintenance of council-owned housing stock - is forecast to be £2.3m in deficit, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

This was due to the rising cost of utilities, as well other inflationary rises such as the pay award and the cost of materials and repairs, councillors heard.

"The demands upon the HRA and the financial challenges it faces have never been greater," director of housing Tracey Carter said.