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 Housing chief Chris Naylor presents a cheque to tenant Nigel Barnes - one of the methods used to entice regular payment |
Tenants owe Town Hall £3.5 million
Charm offensive launched to cut down on arrears
HOUSING chiefs are using prize draw incentives to get council tenants to cough up for their unpaid rent.
The intervention comes after more than £3.5 million due in council rents went uncollected in the last five years.
Figures released to the New Journal show that more than £750,000 of that deficit has been left in arrears in the last financial year.
Officials spend hours every week chasing the owed money but the Town Hall has now embarked on a charm offensive aimed at beating the problem at the source by convincing tenants to pay up on time.
Liberal Democrat housing chief Councillor Chris Naylor said: “By paying the rent on time we all win.
“The council spends less time dealing with arrears and can spend more time making where you live better.”
A prize draw was held in September whereby all tenants who paid their bills on time were thrown into the hat for a single £1,000 prize. It was won by Nigel Barnes, a 77-year-old living in the Rowley Way estate in West Hampstead.
Mr Barnes said: “Winning was a little bit of sunshine out of the blue and I plan to treat myself to more of life’s little luxuries.
“I think this is an excellent scheme. I hope it will encourage more people to think twice and ensure they pay their rent on time.” A further prize draw is due after Christmas.
But behind the big cheque presentation, caught on camera by council press officials, and a competition where the odds for tenants of winning are statistically very low, the Town Hall is trying to get to grips with millions of pounds worth of arrears.
Figures – released under the Freedom of Information Act – show that £769,000 went unpaid last year.
The previous year the figure was lower at around £500,000 but go back to financial year ending in April 2004 and finance chiefs recall arrears amounting to £1.3 million building up over just 12 months.
Cllr Naylor is in favour of the prize draws but warned that problems with rent arrears had to be sorted out as soon as possible.
He said: “You’ve got to be in it to win it and to do that you have to be up-to-date with your rent. Tenants stand the chance of winning a £1,000 and more importantly avoid the stress and problems of dealing with debt.”
Cllr Naylor added: “As everyone knows, small arrears can quickly turn into a serious problem. Nobody wants a large debt hanging over them.
“If tenants are having financial problems
please ask for help straight away. If they don’t, we may need to take action – and that could mean losing their homes.” |
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