Hunt vandals 'to ends of earth'

Housing chiefs have overspent by nearly £337,000 on repairs to York council homes in the past year and Councillor John Galvin wants to see the offenders sued.

A huge proportion of the £3,506,600 spending was needed to renovate homes after tenants had left and part of last year's overspend was due to expenditure of £24,559 above that expected for clearing up rubbish and vandalism.

"A large part of this overspend has been caused by spite and vandalism, Coun Galvin told the approvals social services committee last night.

"It is appalling that families who fall out with the authority trash their houses.

"And once again the cost is going to fall on the pocket of the responsible ones in society."

Councillor Martin Brumby said: "If this is going to be the kind of thing we are confronted with then the tenants are going to have to be financially penalised."

Councillors also called for damaged items to be repaired rather than replaced.

The trend is expected to continue this year, with overspending of £305,630 anticipated, despite a drop in the number of properties owned by City of York Council because of the Right to Buy scheme.

And estimates suggest another £66 million would be needed to maintain the current housing stock over the next ten years.

John Hocking, the council's assistant director of housing services, said: "In most cases, these homes had been tenanted by customers who have been evicted or abandoned their homes. In such cases, the cost of rectifying deliberate damage will be recharged to the customer, although in many cases they will have left without a forwarding address, making recovery difficult."

The council last month announced a £70,000 spending scheme to renovate 16 homes in Etty Avenue which were badly damaged during recent problems in the street and to introduce insulation.

Members of the council's approvals social services committee approved an increase in the housing repair budget of £305,630.