People who have problems setting up home in council properties in Dundee look set to continue to benefit from a furniture package scheme.

A report to Dundee City Council's housing, Dundee Contract Services and environment services committee on Monday (September 28) recommended that £50,000 be transferred from the waste management department to the housing department's homeless services unit.

Committee convener Councillor Jimmy Black said: "Council flats are unfurnished, and for people who have been homeless just getting the basics like beds and cookers can be a real problem. We provide practical help by linking up with voluntary agencies like Transform, who recycle good quality furniture.

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"They also provide good quality furniture at reasonable prices to low-income households who might not otherwise be able to furnish their homes.

"We try to get people who are being put up in temporary accommodation moved onto a permanent home as quickly as possible and the availability of furniture packages can go a long way to helping this process."

Cllr Black continued: "If people have access to essential furnishings, it also means that we can help vulnerable households maintain their tenancies and avoid them losing their homes and becoming homeless again, with the costs that this involves.

"By reusing furniture we are also, of course, helping the city towards its recycling targets - it's estimated that the figure of 126 tonnes of furniture that passed through reuse companies last year could easily beat 300 tonnes a year."

(GK/BMcc)