MID Devon District Council has been slammed by the social housing regulator for overcharging rent for hundreds of its tenants by a staggering £7.5 million.

The local authority previously confessed to charging too much rent for 1,243 of its 3,000 tenants.

Another 1,622 were found to have collectively paid £8 million too little during the same period.

The council self-referred to the regulator after the errors came to light last September and said the issue went back at least six years.

In fact, the regulator revealed the wrong rent formula had been used for more than 20 years, going back to 2002.

The regulator said the authority had been transparent in its approach and wrote to affected tenants to make them aware, and confirmed new tenancies were now correctly charged.

But, a spokesperson said there had been “serious failings” in how the council had been delivering rent standard outcomes.

They said: “Our engagement with the landlord will be intensive and we will seek evidence to give us assurance sufficient change and improvement is being made.

“Our priority will be that any relevant risks to tenants are adequately managed and mitigated, and affected tenants have appropriate redress.”

In a statement, Mid Devon District Council acknowledged the judgement but did not publicise its criticisms.

Head of housing Simon Newcombe said: “This judgement was expected, and we continue to work closely with the regulator to set out our refund process, while maintaining regular contact with our tenants.

“While the sums of money are significant, I would like to reassure our tenants that anybody who was overcharged has already been put on their correct rent and any refunds owed to them are currently being calculated, on an individual basis.

“I would also like to reiterate that anybody undercharged will remain in this position until a change in tenancy.”