Rent arrears in Angus are continuing to fall.

A report considered by the council’s Neighbourhood Services Committee (7 October) showed that arrears declined to a level of 7% in August, a drop from the June level of 7.25%.

Angus Council’s housing spokesperson councillor Jim Millar said: “Once more, we are seeing a steady decline in the number of our tenants who are in arrears with their rent.

“The measures which we have been pursuing to drive down the levels of rent arrears are continuing to take effect and there is a steady decline in the levels of arrears.

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“We expect payment of rent to be seen as a priority for every tenant, but we will continue to make every effort to help those who have genuine difficulties in paying their rent.”

He added: “Angus Council was recently congratulated by Shelter Scotland on meeting the 2012 housing commitment two years ahead of schedule. We have made strenuous and continuing efforts to deliver on the council’s statutory commitments and are glad to have already met our target of prioritising all unintentionally homeless applicants ahead of 2012.

“We are, however, not complacent and recognise that there are broader housing needs and aspirations on top of our homelessness commitment.

“We aim to ensure that we are giving reasonable preference to all housing groups, as well as focussing on preventing homelessness in the first instance. We are exploring every avenue to increase housing supply across all tenures.”

The committee agreed to note the current performance on rent arrears and the progress in pursuing serious arrears.

(GK/KMcA)