HUNDREDS of council tenants across the Culm Valley and Blackdown Hills and other parts of Mid Devon are shortly to start receiving rent refunds after the district council admitted overcharging them for years.

About 1,200 council tenants were found to be paying too much rent when auditors alerted the authority late last year to calculation errors in its rental formula.

A further 1,600 tenants had not been paying enough rent.

Now, council head of housing Simon Newcombe has told tenants the authority hoped to issue the first refunds ‘in the upcoming months’.

Mr Newcombe said: “Following the discovery of our housing rent error the council took immediate steps to rectify the error, and this work remains ongoing.”

He said the council would not try to recover arrears from tenants who had not paid enough and there would be no change in their rents until the tenancy changed.

Mr Newcombe said rents for people who were being overcharged had been corrected from January of this year.

Refunds would cover up to six years ago, a timeframe based on legal advice on the maximum time in which legal proceedings can be started after an event.

They would be paid in tranches, with tenants not receiving either Universal Credit or housing benefit likely to be among the first.

Next, would be those in receipt of housing benefit, followed by people who may have had some of their rent paid via Universal Credit.

Tenants on Universal Credit might have to wait longer because the calculations sat with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Mr Newcombe said: “Although this may take some time, we continue to work closely with them to ensure we can process refunds as quickly as we can.”

Any concerns about rent payments can be raised by emailing to [email protected] or calling 01884 255255.