Council buys back homes

FORMER council houses in East Lothian are to be bought back by the local authority in a bid to increase rental stock in the county.

The programme, which was introduced in 2011, has seen 79 houses purchased on the open market at a cost of £8,845,000 plus stamp duty.

A further £500,000 has been spent bringing the homes up to the required standard, while £4.4 million is available to buy homes on the open market.

Within the £14m budget, £230,000 has been set aside to pay for some extensions to existing council properties.