TAXPAYERS are shelling out £1300 a month to house a tenant in a leaky flat in the middle of a Glasgow slum.

The occupier - a middle-aged man rebuilding his life after six years living on the streets - has been put in the property with the £298-a-week rent covered by housing benefit from central government.

Today Glasgow City Council defended the level of payments for the two-apartment flat which is in an area dubbed Ground Zero because of the scale of its housing and social problems.

And it has emerged it is just one of 1700 homeless peoples' city flats for which the taxpayer is forking out similar rents.

Tony McGill, who lost his home after suffering from serious depression, moved to the flat in Govanhill's Westmoreland Street in June after friends put him in touch with social services in Glasgow.

Friends were shocked at the price charged for the flat owned by Ibrox-based property company, MS Namana Ltd.

One of them, Henry Daly, said: "I was glad when Tony got a house and I thought that will help him get things together again.

"But, to be honest, when I saw the place I was disappointed.

"And I can't believe what they charge for it.

"He could be living in a penthouse flat on the riverside for half that!"

Tony said water pours from the roof down the outside of an exposed drainpipe that runs through his bathroom, causing mould to grow in the surrounding area, despite regular cleaning.

There are large cracks in the close roof, with water appearing to have broken through, even though the roof has been fitted with modern skylights in recent years.

A broken pipe which appears to hold live electrical cables dangles across the stairway leading to flats in the close, which is covered with graffiti.

Tony, 50, said: "Sometimes I just want to walk away from it but I've waited this long on the list for a place of my own and I don't want to lose that."

Many homes in the area, including some on the other side of the street, are well maintained, however, the block where Tony lives suffers badly from neglect.

Although Tony's rent is covered by housing benefit, he is being forced to pay for heating provided by expensive-to-run electric heaters run from a card meter that deducts £2.50 a week in service charges.

The exterior wall of the flat is left constantly damp as leaking water runs down the stonework to the filthy backcourt	Tony shows where water runs down the outside of a drainpipe in his bathroom	Electric heating is expensive to run	Tony's plumbing is shoddy	The window frames are starting to rot due to dampness

And he fears he won't be able to stay warm in the house.

Brian Gallacher, operations manager with MS Namana said his company did not get anywhere near the full amount as it had a contract to supply several flats to the council for use by its homelessness unit.

Mr Gallacher said repairs had been carried out and that he had been told the leak had stopped but confirmed that further repairs would be carried out if the tenant contacted the council.

A council spokesman said the cost of the flat included £82.32 a week rent charge which goes to the owner.

Almost £216 a week is divided between Council Tax, a "furniture charge", "void charge" to cover periods when it is not occupied and a "service charge".

That works out over a year at £1293 a calendar month.

The spokesman said: "This is in line with the cost of other temporary furnished flats in the city.

"The furniture charge covers the cost of new furniture being placed in temporary furnished flats.

"A flat properly equipped with furniture is seen as essential if people coming through the homeless system are to sustain their accommodation.

"The service charge covers the cost of repairs, decoration, cleaning in temporary furnished flats as well as the administration of the lease."

He added: "All of these charges are based on a share of the overall cost temporary furnished flats incur upon the system."

Tony worked as a floor fitter when he was hit hard by the death of his mother 10 years ago.

As his father's health also began to fail, Tony slid into depression which led to the break-up of his own family and he left the family home in King's Park.

And after fleeing violence in a Gorbals tower block where he was rehoused, he found himself living on the streets.

Tony said he spent about four years sleeping in a railway arch behind the Citizens Theatre.

He said: "At least there I had an oil heater and I could curl up round it and keep warm.

"There's no way I'll be able to afford to heat the house when the winter comes."