Written question asked by Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party) on Monday, 4 December 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 December 2006. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Thursday, 7 December 2006 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Tenant Debt

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to recover past tenant debts.

Answer: The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has in place a number of processes to recover past tenant arrears, these include: tracing procedures where necessary; warning letters; visits to the tenant to discuss a voluntary recovery agreement; and, legal recovery via a magistrates court.Unfortunately a number of former tenants do not terminate their tenancy in the prescribed manner and leave the property without any notice or forwarding address being given. In this instance internal and external tracing procedures have to be initiated before any amount can be recovered.In August 2006 the Housing Executive sought the services of debt recovery agents from the private sector on a pilot basis. The success of private sector agents in tracing the whereabouts of past tenants and the recovery of debt will be evaluated after a six month period, namely February 2007.

Secondary information