FEARS are growing that Flintshire Council could be left hundreds of thousands pounds out of pocket if it sells off its housing stock.
Council bosses confirmed at a scrutiny meeting at County Hall on Friday that if a decision is made following a ballot of tenants to sell the 7,500 properties then £1million pound owed in rent arrears will be part of the transfer.
Cllr George Hardcastle said: “The debt at the moment is over £1million in arrears. If the stock transfer went ahead then we would lose £1million.”
But the council’s head of housing Clare Budden said the council should be able to claw a proportion of the money back.
She told members: “What happens is that if a tenant owes the council say £300 they would then owe the new landlord £300 and then the landlord would have to negotiate to pay a fee to the council. If for example the debt is a million pounds they may offer to pay the council £500,000.”
Chief executive Colin Everett said a risk assessment was being carried out to determine the potential downfalls of transferring the housing stock to a trust or housing association.
The landmark decision on whether to retain or sell the stock still remains unclear.
A dedicated project board has now been set up to ensure the project is properly governed and council tenants are due to take part in a ballot later this year to determine ownership of the housing stock.
Members have now asked that tenants are made aware of the effects of both retaining and transferring the council-owned houses.
Mr Everett said the council had a duty to keep tenants properly informed.
He added: “We are obliged to and we want to consult with every single tenant and each will have the chance to comment.”