Wrexham council is to raise rents, cut jobs and reduce budgets by almost £500,000 after its transfer was rejected by tenants.
The council needs £247m to bring its 12,700 homes up to the decent homes standard. It will raise rents by 3% and has ended the contracts of 25 temporary staff.

It will also cut its estates initiatives budget by £100,000 and repairs budget by £300,000.

Chief housing officer Paul Calland said the changes would balance the books until October when the council will put forward long-term plans for its housing.

Other plans could include estate office closures or service reductions.

The council is also pressing for a meeting with Welsh housing minister Edwina Hart about concessions to solve its housing woes.

The council will propose that the Welsh assembly writes off its £47m debt, meaning that it would no longer lose £7m of rental income in repayments – the same deal the assembly would have offered the transfer landlord had tenants voted yes. The extra funds could be used for prudential borrowing.

An assembly spokesman could not comment on what the minister would propose for Wrexham.