NEW figures show taxpayers are owed more than £5m in unpaid rent.

Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (KNH) is more than £1m over its target for arrears.

A leading councillor has now accused the organisation of “incompetence” and called for its leaders to consider resigning over the debt.

KNH’s board discussed the arrears at a meeting this week.

The organisation, which manages 23,000 Kirklees Council-owned houses, is owed £5.08m – well above its target for the third quarter of the financial year 2011/12.

Current tenants have rent arrears of £1.72m – £340,000 above KNH’s target of £1.38m.

Former tenants owe £3.36m, £860,000 more than the target of £2.5m. KNH is about to write off £700,000 of the arrears.

Clr Christine Smith, a former member of the KNH Board, this week slammed the organisation for allowing tenants to run up such a huge debt.

“I can’t understand how they have let this get to that figure,” said the Kirkburton Conservative.

“Even a target of £3.9m is a high figure, but £5m in rent arrears is just another part of the incompetence of KNH.

“When I was on the board six or seven years ago there were arrears of £1m and it was a case of ‘shock, horror’.

“Since then KNH was supposed to have got its act together and put a system in place whereby it can spot people in arrears.”