MILLIONS of pounds are to be spent on housing and regeneration schemes across the district.

Wear Valley District Council has secured more than £3m to improve its homes and clean up neighbourhoods under a Government initiative.

The money was secured by the council's central resources committee, which took advantage of new regulations allowing local authorities to keep all the money they make from selling certain property or land.

Until recently, councils had to hand a portion of the money it received over to central government.

But new rules mean that councils can now keep all the cash, an estimated £5m for Wear Valley over the next financial year, if it pledges to reinvest the money on affordable housing or improving neighbourhoods.

In Wear Valley, the sale of St Andrew's Estate, in Bishop Auckland, to Persimmon Homes will be a big contributor to the fund.

The estate is to be demolished because of structural faults and asbestos.

The council's central resources committee decided to secure the money when it met on April 7 to allow it to be used locally.

A council spokesman said: "This is a large sum of money and it has not been decided how it will be spent yet, but it is certainly welcomed."

But the delay in ring-fencing the money has been criticised over fears the Government could still take half of it.

Norman Button, secretary of Woodhouse Close Residents' Action Group, said: "This sort of money could help the council carry out work on its housing stock to take it beyond the decent homes standard.

"I was concerned when the intention to ring-fence the money was not indicated sooner because it would be foolish in the extreme for a council to give half of the money to central government."

He said that the council, which is considering the future management of its local authority housing stock, should now consider giving people a chance to vote for stock retention and use the extra money to maintain houses.

A spokeswoman for the Audit Commission, which regulates council behaviour and management, said that she had received a complaint about the capital receipts not being ring-fenced sooner, but that the council had done so in plenty of time so it had not missed out on any funding opportunities.