Council housing debt in Scotland is expected to increase by £353m in the year to March 2013.

This 13.4% increase will see the total debt reach £2,991.9m.

The news came as Scotland’s chief Statistician released figures on Scotland’s local authority housing income and expenditure.

Shetland will retain the highest amount of debt on a per property basis at £22,958 per house, while Falkirk will show the lowest, at £4,428 per house.

Housing capital expenditure in local authorities is expected to amount to £679m in 2012-13, showing an increase of £78.1m, 13%, since 2011-12.

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£52.2m of capital receipts are expected to be raised in 2012-13, showing an increase of £2.6m, or 5.2%, since 2011-12.

£135.7m was raised in 2008-09 and £227.2m was raised in 2007-08.

The statistics released yesterday show information on housing debt, supervision and management costs, repairs and maintenance costs, direct spending on capital works and rental income.

The figures also show there were an estimated 315,800 council houses in Scotland on 30 September 2012, which shows a decline of about 600 in the year from September 2011.

The average council rent being paid into the Housing Revenue Account in 2012-13 is £58.94 per week, which shows an increase of £2.20 per week, or 3.9%, since 2011-12.

The difference between average rent was also indicated. In Moray, the average is about £45 per week, while in Edinburgh the average is about £80.

Generally, council rents have increased by an average of 1% per year in the fifteen year period from 1997-98 to 2012-13.

(IT)