Council housing stock is vital to ensure that the most vulnerable people in Nuneaton have a safe and secure home. Unfortunately, some defaulters are thousands of pounds in arrears with their rent and the Conservative council is taking action to ensure that the houses can be re-let to those who are in genuine need.
Owing up to £5,000 in rent arrears, court action has resulted in three properties being repossessed. These houses will now be used to house those on the waiting list.
As a Council we are committed to working with tenants who are in genuine difficulty and will engage with us. But we must make sure that the houses within our ownership are used in the most appropriate way.
Cllr Clare Golby, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, explained:
During the pandemic, due to temporary legislation, local councils couldn’t take legal action for rent arrears.
This means that some tenants in Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough simply stopped paying their rent and there was nothing the Council could do about it.
The legislation has now reverted back to normal, and we are ramping up operations in a big push to catch up with defaulters.
If you are one of our tenants and are having genuine difficulty paying your rent, please talk to us. We can help. I can’t emphasise this enough.
If you are a deliberate defaulter we will catch up with you.
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council provides housing to residents in Nuneaton, Bedworth, Bulkington, Exhall and Keresley.
Deliberate rent arrears or abandoned properties are a burden on the local authority and the tax payer, plus with a shortage of housing stock for families in need it’s a waste of homes that could be used by people desperately in need.
I will not allow properties to be abandoned and stood empty or people to intentionally not pay what they owe.
We will take the necessary action to get our property back.
