THE soaring number of empty council houses will cost Burnley a record £800,000 in lost rent this year.

That is around £100,000 more than expected when estimates were drawn up, adding to the catalogue of housing headaches for department chiefs.

Latest figures reveal nearly 400 council homes in Burnley are empty - more than seven per cent of the town's total 5,600 council stock - and getting on for double the figure in 1995.

The situation is worst on the West End estates, where there were 188 void properties at the start of the month -16 per cent of the stock.

Hargher Clough estate alone has 110 empty or boarded up homes, Stoops 67 and in the Central area, Barclay Hills estate reports 72 voids.

A new report to councillors also highlights the crippling cost of simply keeping empty houses safe from vandalism - at least £400,000 this year. Housing chairman Rafique Malik says the fundamental problem is lack of demand for houses in certain areas.

Environmental, social and repair issues all had to be addressed and the authority did not have the money for major improvements.

A special seminar was being arranged to look at new ways to combat anti-social behaviour, taking evidence from Oldham which had run a successful scheme.

Coun Malik said council officers were also endeavouring to bring about speedier re-lets on properties on sought after estates.

Vital, too, was the council's proposal to transfer the entire housing stock to a local housing company, which, if successful, would release £40 million to modernise homes, remodel estates and re-shape the surrounding environment.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.