Deliberate damage to council properties in Perth and Kinross has amounted to nearly £163,000 over the last two years.
The extent of the problem shows that around 180 homes were affected over a one-year period, with doors, skirting boards, heaters and smoke detectors having to be repaired.
The figures were obtained by The Courier through the Freedom of Information Act and reveal that for the 2010-11 financial year, the ”rechargeable repairs” amounted to £77,438. For the period 2011-12, this rose to £85,294.
Perth and Kinross Council was unable to provide a breakdown of the number of properties damaged for 2010/11.
However, the council revealed that between April 2011 and March 2012 the cost of rechargeable repairs related to approximately 180 properties. This covered repairs to a number of areas and the removal of items left in properties.
Councillor Ian Campbell, the opposition spokesman on housing and health, slammed the figures, stating he was ”shocked” that the general public would be footing the bill for the repairs to the council properties.
”I’m shocked that other taxpayers are picking up the tab of just over £80,000 per year for damage that has been caused deliberately,” he told The Courier.
”Whilst I am aware that we try to recover what we can, I will take immediate steps to ensure that we are maximising our efforts to have these sums repaid.
”It is even more galling when the last administration, only a year or so ago, put in place an incentive for council tenants whereby they are paid £100 if they leave their rented accommodation in good condition.
”I will also ask for a report on the operation of this incentive and whether it is cost effective.”
A spokeswoman for Perth and Kinross Council said that the ”rechargeable repairs” figures include the costs of reinstating void properties to a ”lettable” standard after the previous tenants have left.
”The council’s rechargeable repairs policy aims to recover the cost of work arising from tenant misuse, consistently enforce tenancy conditions, and deter misuse of council property by future tenants,” she said.
Councillor Dave Doogan, convener of Perth and Kinross Council’s housing and health committee, defended the local authority’s policy to deal with such anti-social behaviour by some tenants.
He said: ”We recognise that there are instances where accidental damage occurs in our council housing and we deal with this, along with any deliberate damage to properties, through our rechargeable repairs policy to make sure our houses are let to tenants in a reasonable and acceptable standard.”
He continued: ”The figures we provided cover all rechargeable repairs, include non-accidental damage, as well as the cost of putting properties back to their original standard if, for example, tenants have made any changes for reasons of personal taste.
”We always seek to recover the cost of repairing any deliberate damage and to deter misuse of council property and in 2011/12 just under £4,300 was spent on repairs due to non-accidental damage.”