HARD-to-let council houses in Burnley could be sold or even demolished as rent lost on empty properties heads for a record £600,000 this year.

Councillors will also consider transferring problem houses en-bloc to housing groups. A new report reveals that more than 320 estate houses, about six per cent of the entire council stock, are now void More than half of them are in the troubled West End of town - Stoops, Hargher Clough and Barclay estates - where more than one in eight homes are empty.

Linked to this is a shortage of cash to carry out repairs, with councillors being told the £2.1 million annual repairs budget is 'barely adequate.'

Housing committee chiefs will hear tonight that the town is in the grip of a vicious circle of high turnover of tenants, mounting repairs and people shunning problem areas.

And they will be told of new initiatives being considered to get houses back into use. which include:

Working with police, social services and other agencies to make estates more responsible and attractive to tenants.

Advertising houses to let in unpopular areas and offering furnished tenancies to young people.

Councillors will hear that the Government wants the authority to seriously consider stock transfer and discussions have already started with tenant groups on the question of sale or selective demolition of properties needing substantial investment to make them lettable.

Burnley's housing chairman Coun Rafique Malik, said: "It is basically a social rather than housing problem and we also need to invest in supporting the families who find it difficult controlling their youngsters who indulge in anti-social behaviour.

He was hopeful the town would receive capital receipts to increase spending on repairs, allowing houses to be brought back into use more quickly.

The town is losing more than £13,000-a-week in rent on empty houses.

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