’Hard-pushed’ ratepayers in Douglas are being hit because the town hall’s public sector housing management costs spiralled.

Senior councillor Ritchie McNicholl hit out at the executive committee’s decision to increase the support for the housing subsidy by £69,072 to £365,732.

The housing committee had requested the increase because of an unanticipated increase in legal costs.

Mr McNicholl had voted against the increase in the executive committee.

At last week’s pubic council meeting, he said: ’We are asking our hard-pushed ratepayers to stump up another £69,072.

’We have heard, in the past couple of weeks, about prescription charges coming in and, if that is not bad enough, we are looking to ask the ratepayers for this amount of money for an overspend in the housing budget.’

He said all committees should be expected to keep within their allocated budget.

’Nobody overspends their budget without alarm bells ringing,’ he added. ’I lived within my means, why aren’t we doing the same?

’If a committee is given a budget, it should be held to the budget.’

Several other councillors expressed a similar concern.

Council leader David Christian admitted: ’I don’t take this lightly at all.

’It has been an exceptional year.’

He said the legal costs, which amounted to 98 per cent of the extra budget, had included taking out four anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs).

’These are not cheap to do,’ he said.

Other costs included chasing up rent arrears and more than 12 evictions taking place.

Not chasing up unpaid rent or failing to take a hard line on tenants breaching their terms risked incurring additional costs in the future, he warned, as the wrong message would go out.

Last year, Douglas Council had called for an increase of 8.9 per cent in public sector rent, to help cover costs, but the Department of Infrastructure brought in a 2 per cent increase across the island.

Mr Christian said there was no incentive ’for them up the road’ to increase the rent by a higher amount, possibly because the council was prepared to subsidise its housing maintenance budget from the rates.

Housing committee chairman Claire Wells was not at last week’s meeting, having been granted leave of absence.

Mr McNicholl and Natalie Byron voted against the subsidy, which the council confirmed by 13 votes to two.