Wrexham's council houses need money spent on them

Councillors meeting on Tuesday needed to find �1.2m to balance the authority's housing account.

Tenants rents will now rise by a further three per cent.

In March, 58% of the county's 9,722 tenants voted against moving ownership from the council to a newly-created independent housing association.

But the decision has left a hole in the council's finances, as it faces finding the money for improving the properties.

The rent increases mean tenants will now be paying an extra eight per cent for their homes than previous years.

Ministerial meeting

Councillors also agreed to save �50,000 by reducing tenants decoration allowances.

Other options to reduce the council's expenditure in the long term include closing estate offices and charging tenants for grass and hedge cutting or doing away with the service altogether.

Wrexham council leader Shan Wilkinson said councillors had some tough decisions to make but they had to be made.

She says she has spoken to Chancellor Gordon Brown about the housing deficit and had meetings with members of the Welsh assembly but there is no extra money available.

The Welsh Assembly Government has told all Welsh local authorities that council housing must be brought up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by 2012.

Transferring the council's housing stock to an independent body offered the authority a way out of its current financial crisis but it was not the cause of the problem.

The high level of council house sales and historically low rents have also led to the current financial situation.

Wrexham councillors meeting on Tuesday reiterated their request for a meeting with Welsh Assembly Minister Edwina Hart.

They said if she cannot meet them they would be willing to send a delegation to Cardiff to outline their financial difficulties.