Tenants whose homes are assessed as clean and tidy when they leave, and who hand their keys in on time at the end of their tenancy, are to be given £50 by Tamworth Borough Council.

The incentive aims to reduce the number of tenants who fail to return their keys and who leave the property in a poor state.

The payment will be made to every household which passes an exit inspection, removes all rubbish, has a clear rent account and hands back the keys by the end of the day on Friday of the week the tenancy ends.

The council currently spends more than £200,000 a year on removing rubbish from empty council homes, £50,000 on repairs to damage caused by tenants, as well as £10,000 in lost rents and legal fees to recover properties where keys are not handed in on time.

With around 300 tenants leaving their properties each year, the cost to the council if all of them qualified for the new incentive would be £15,000 – which housing bosses estimate would generate a saving of £26,000.

Head of Housing, Tina Mustafa, said: “While there will always be cases that result in the council having to take steps to recover the property, this incentive is one way to encourage tenants to take better care of their property and reduce the time others have to wait for new homes. “

Cllr Mary Oates, Cabinet member for Quality of Life, said: “It costs a lot of money to take the necessary legal steps to get the keys back and also means that residents on the waiting list have to wait longer before they can move in. It is not acceptable to have properties standing empty when there are families waiting for homes.

“This new incentive is a relatively small investment which we are hoping will lead to substantial savings.”

The council is also offering prize incentives to encourage tenants to complete and return the new revised tenancy agreements, which are due to come into effect in September.

Every tenant who returns the completed form will be entered into a prize draw, with the chance to winning one of ten prizes of £100.

The incentive is being offered to encourage a high level of return on the forms and a reduction in the cost of following them up.