EMPTY council homes are costing almost £15,000 a week in lost rent, it was revealed last night. Bolton has 400 council properties which are not let out to tenants. It was also revealed that it costs an average of £720 to repair a property every time it becomes empty.

But Cllr Noel Spencer, housing committee chairman, said at last night's Bolton Council meeting that the authority is winning the battle to reduce the number of void properties across the town.

Last year there were 700 properties empty and there has been a huge drive to rent them out.

The council will also be targeting difficult to let estates with extra officers to boost their image over the next 12 months.

Cllr Spencer said: "Voids are a problem across the region and not just in Bolton.

"But in the last nine months, we have made remarkable strides forward in tackling the problem.

"In July last year, we set up a task force and since then, we have let out a total of 2,500 properties.

"We have greatly improved the efficiency of the turnover of properties."

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