West Dunbartonshire Council is to increase its rent for council house tenants it has been announced.

The rise – of 7.63% – will come into force from 1 April 2014.

As a result, the increase will add a further £4.67 each week to a tenants' average weekly rent over the year.

The rental income will be invested back into housing to ensure Council homes meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by March 2015, and new properties can be built. Some £35.9m will be spent on housing and community safety projects in the area over the next year.

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This includes £10m installing new heating systems, kitchens and bathrooms, and £9.9m of structural and environmental works on multi-storey properties; while 83 new homes will be constructed in Dumbarton and Clydebank. An additional £300,000 will be spent on special needs adaptations to properties with a further £150,000 invested in community safety projects across West Dunbartonshire.

Commenting on the announcement, Housing Convener, Councillor David McBride, said: "When we took the decision to cancel the partial stock transfer project and retain all our Council homes tenants knew that increased rents would be needed to pay for the major improvements required to our properties. Increasing rents is never an easy decision but I believe our tenants understand why we need to do this.

"The rental income allows us to fund more than £35m of repairs and upgrades to our homes and give our tenants the modern, warm and efficient property they deserve."

(JP/MH)