RENT arrears written off as bad debts by Fife Council have shot up by £256,000 in a year to just over £1million. The big increase in the amount of money owed by tenants, which the authority has decided they have little or no chance of recovering, was blamed on people either terminating their lease or absconding.

The average amount owed climbed to £851 per case and although the council feared a big rise in debt levels due to the bedroom tax, that didn’t happen.

In a report to Tuesday’s executive committee, council accountant Donna Grieve said, “The impact of welfare reform has not yet been felt directly in terms of bad debt, though it may explain the rise in people leaving our housing.

“Due to the work of housing and finance in encouraging and assessing Discretionary Housing Payment applications, the need for write-off directly related to welfare reform has not materialised despite being budgeted for.” She stated that £1.076m of house/garage rent was written off as bad debt in 2013-14, the figure from the previous year was £820,000.

In terms of the total rent collectable – including housing benefit payments – the amount written off was 1.1 per cent.

The big increase was put down to a 23 per cent rise in the number of tenants absconding and a 34 per cent hike in the number of tenants moving out of council homes.

They also decided on a policy to write-off smaller sums which were deemed “uneconomic to recover”. The council face a balancing act between chasing rent arrears but also trying to sustain tenancies and avoid homelessness, evictions and abandonments.

Ms Grieve wrote, “Although the amount of write-off has increased compared with the previous year, efforts continue to be made to trace and pursue recovery of debt due by tenants who have moved, absconded or been evicted.

“The difficulty arises when it is not possible to obtain a forwarding address, however, should they appear in the future, for example through the housing applicstion process, the opportunity is taken to recover the sums due.” There was also a huge rise in the ‘temporary homelessness accommodation rents’ which were written off by the council for 2013-14.

The figure was £653,000, up by £212,000 from the previous year, and the council report said, “The total includes all former tenants who have left the property and for whom there is no trace or forwarding details, and as such the debt cannot be pursued.”