Scottish councils housing debt rises above £2.2bn

26 Jul 07
The housing debt of Scotland's local authorities has risen to more than £2.2bn, official statistics have disclosed.

27 July 2007

The housing debt of Scotland's local authorities has risen to more than £2.2bn, official statistics have disclosed.

The increasing debt, disclosed this week in Local authority housing income and expenditure 2005/06 to 2007/08, published by the Scottish Executive, is despite efforts to encourage councils to transfer their houses to housing associations. If tenants vote in favour of transfer, debt is written off by the Treasury.

The statistics show that the total outstanding debt of Scottish councils at April 2006 was £2,008.3m. The estimated debt figure at April 2007 was £2,212.4m, an increase of £204.1m.

The figures indicated that debt levels vary widely. Orkney remains debt-free, whereas Shetland (£28,121 per unit) and the City of Edinburgh (£12,475 per unit) have the highest outstanding housing debt. Following a ballot towards the end of 2005, Edinburgh tenants voted against transfer.

Edinburgh has the highest rents in Scotland, (£58.11 per week) while tenants in Moray have the lowest (£38.07).

Total capital expenditure on housing in Scotland in 2006/07 is projected to be £501m, an increase of £39m (8.4%), with Midlothian, Angus and Perth & Kinross having the highest increases.

Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell told a Chartered Institute of Housing (Scotland) conference in Edinburgh this week that the building of new homes was at the top of the Scottish government's housing agenda.

However, he acknowledged this presented an 'immense challenge'.

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