Tenants at Wellington Court in Wellington Street were shocked to discover empty flats at sheltered accommodation King's Court and Denham Court are being advertised by estate agents.

Up until two months ago all sheltered housing flats were let out by Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing.

Amanda Stubley, tenants and residents association secretary, said: "KNH have estate agents renting them out now without having had any consultation with tenants. I was told it was because there is so much sheltered housing in this area. KNH are paying estate agents to do this for them and we want to know how much.

"This has not even gone before the KNH board, on which we have representatives, or the TRAs. The tenants should have had a say on this decision. This has never been done before – it's a pilot scheme. We have got to make a stand.

"I think there could be a bigger picture. I'm hoping they are not going to eventually sell these flats off as a complex."

She said so many flats are lying empty because a decision had still not been made about the future of live-in scheme co-ordinators.

Elderly people no longer see the sheltered housing complex as a safe living option.

Two years ago Wellington Court launched a campaign to ensure live-in scheme co-ordinators remained.

As a result of the uproar the council and KNH pledged to carry out a full review of older people's services, and decide the future of the resident co-ordinators.

In the meantime temporary contracts were given to co-ordinators, but a decision has still not been made and the contracts run out in September.

Miss Stubley said: "We used to have waiting lists for sheltered housing. Now people are too afraid to come because this has been going on for two years.

"You can't call it sheltered accommodation anymore. Maybe if they kept the scheme co-ordinators they would feel safe."

A council spokeswoman said: "Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing and Kirklees Council have a strong commitment to retaining resident scheme co-ordinators as part of the new service.

"Until the review is finalised we have been employing temporary staff to fill vacancies. However we will be employing staff on a permanent basis once the new contract is up and running.

"We have used estate agents only to advertise some of the properties more widely to older people who otherwise might not be aware of the opportunity. We have managed to let several properties this way that would otherwise have been vacant for longer.

"Those moving into the scheme in response to these adverts are council tenants in just the same way as other residents."