Following the announcement by the UK Housing Minister that councils in England will be given the financial freedom to reinvest their council rents and will no longer have to pay them to the Treasury, the FMB Wales is supporting the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) call for the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly to clarify how this will affect councils in Wales.

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Richard Jenkins, Director of Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Wales said: "It is disgraceful that councils in Wales have been forced to pay over £1billion of tenants’ rents to the Treasury since 1999 with payments of over £70million each year. This money should have gone into improving the housing stock in Wales. England will now follow Scottish councils in not paying tenants rents to the UK Treasury. Wales must follow suit immediately and councils or the Assembly given the right to invest their own money in Welsh houses."

(CD/KMcA)