Housing Executive writes off £10m

The Housing Executive wrote off £10m in owed rents

The Audit Office has criticised the NI Housing Executive for writing off more than £10m in owed rents over five years so it could meet corporate targets.

The write-offs were made so the body could show that it had not allowed its annual rent arrears to exceed those of the previous year.

The biggest single debt owed was more than £21,000, while 2,500 people in arrears owed more than £1000 each.

The office said it was "a direct and substantial loss to the public purse".

In the years 2002 to 2007 the Housing Executive was able to reduce its gross tenant arrears by £3.3m, but only by writing off more than three times as much, £10.6m.

The Audit Office said while the write-offs had produced a positive performance against the corporate target, the percentage of total rent collected had reduced and there were high levels of individual arrears.

The Housing Executive is at the bottom of the league in gathering in rents compared to English local authorities.

The report said: "In our view these underlying indicators are of some concern and may become more problematic in the difficult economic climate ahead."

It added: "We consider that there is scope for NIHE to enhance its target-setting regime and further develop its approach to benchmarking as a means of driving forward performance improvements."

The report stressed the need for better measures to prevent arrears as it could take a very long time for them to be recouped, given that the maximum arrears deduction permitted is £3 a week.

Preventative measures were an important element in ensuring debts do not escalate to the stage where eviction and legal action may be necessary, said the report.

It noted that eviction for non-payment of rent in Northern Ireland was lower than in England - with an average of 34 evictions a year.

However, it said there had been a sharp rise in the last financial year with 45 tenants evicted in the first nine months of the year.