Council Owed Over £500,000 With More Than Half Of Council Housing Tenants In Arrears

Westmorland and Furness Council is owed £515,831 in social housing rent arrears, with more than half of its council homes currently recorded as being in arrears.

Figures obtained from Westmorland and Furness Council show that 1,293 of its 2,549 social housing properties are currently in rental arrears. That represents around 51 per cent of the authority's entire social housing stock.

At the end of the 2025/26 financial year, the council had 2,553 social housing properties, with 1,110 recorded as being in rental arrears. The latest figures therefore show that the number of properties in arrears has increased by 183.

The value of the rental arrears currently recorded by the council is £515,831. At the end of the 2025/26 financial year, the figure provided by the council was £455,145.

The council's housing stock has meanwhile fallen slightly, from 2,553 properties to 2,549.

The figures come as Westmorland and Furness Council works under a new Housing Strategy approved last year. The strategy aims to tackle homelessness and address the rural housing crisis, while increasing the council's housing stock, improving existing poor-quality housing and making properties more accessible for disabled residents.

The latest figures show that the council has not yet increased its overall housing stock. Instead, it has four fewer properties than it did at the end of the last financial year, while the number of homes recorded as being in arrears has risen from 1,110 to 1,293.

With the council planning to increase the number of properties it owns, the scale of the current arrears will be an important part of managing that larger housing stock. The authority is already responsible for collecting rent from 2,549 properties, with 1,293 currently recorded as being in arrears.

The figures do not provide a breakdown of the individual debts or say how long the arrears have been outstanding, so it is not possible to tell from the information supplied how much is owed by individual tenants.

There is also a considerable difference in the council's housing provision across the area. Of the 2,549 social housing properties owned by Westmorland and Furness Council, just 81 are in Penrith. That means Penrith accounts for around 3.2 per cent of the council's housing stock, with the vast majority of its properties located in Barrow.

For Penrith, the 81 properties form only a small part of the council's overall housing operation. The much larger stock in Barrow accounts for the bulk of the authority's council housing and, consequently, the wider arrears figures supplied by the council.

Across Westmorland and Furness, however, the latest figures show that 1,293 council properties are currently in rent arrears, with £515,831 recorded as outstanding.

That compares with 1,110 properties in arrears at the end of the 2025/26 financial year.

The council's housing strategy sets out plans for more council housing, but for now its existing stock stands at 2,549 properties – and more than half are recorded as being in arrears.