£85,000 to prevent North Lanarkshire homes blow

A council faced with having to make £55million of cuts in the next two years is to give £85,000 to help prevent families losing their homes.

The cash, from North Lanarkshire Council, will go to two housing advice projects.

CAB Advice Service, which dealt with more than 400 cases last year, is to receive £55,924.

Shelter Advocacy Service, which handled about 170 cases, will be awarded £28,871.

The cash has been allocated to ensure residents facing housing problems have access to professional advice because more people are expected to seek help in the coming years due to the recession and job losses .

Councillor Barry McCulloch, convener of the council’s housing and social work services committee, said: “We are committed to tackling homelessness and helping people with tenancies remain in their homes.

“We are working hard to prevent homelessness and provide access to good quality housing advice.

“One of the ways we are doing this is through our recently published Housing Options Guide.

“This contains a wide range of housing information and advice and is designed to be regularly updated to help people make the right housing choice.

“This is available to people in all housing sectors and does not focus solely on our own tenants.”