Birmingham slams ‘unfair’ rent rises
Birmingham council has hit out at the government for ‘forcing’ it to raise its tenants’ rents.
The city council is due to approve a 3.1 per cent rent increase at a meeting on 8 March, in line with national rent policy.
Cabinet member for housing John Lines said the rise was ‘simply not fair on tenants’.
‘Birmingham kept its council tax at just 1.9 per cent for the fifth year running in recognition of the tough economic times our citizens face, yet the government is imposing the rent increases,’ he said.
The government sets council rents using a formula linked to inflation, and an allowance designed to bring council and housing association rents in line with each other.
In Birmingham the 3.1 per cent rise will cost tenants an extra £2.10 a week, although they can secure a four week exemption from paying rent if they keep payments up to date, under a policy introduced in 2008.
Mr Lines said the cut was particularly unwelcome as the local authority will not retain the extra revenue from the rent increase.
‘Unfortunately, the income from this rent increase will not be retained by tenants, but will be repaid back to the government through the subsidy system,’ he said.
‘This has also happened over the past two years and tenants now pay 27p in every pound of rent back to government.
‘I am determined to secure changes to the current unfair financial system for council housing and will continue to lobby for these changes.’
A spokesperson for the Communities and Local Government department said: ‘Our priority with our rents policy has always been to ensure rents remain affordable and fair for tenants. Thanks to government intervention, the original guideline rent increase of 6.1 per cent has been halved for the second year running. Birmingham are perfectly entitled to choose their own rents but we consider that 3.1 per cent is a good result, striking a balance between the interests of tenants and taxpayers.
‘Housing minister John Healey has already announced his intention to dismantle the current system of council housing finance and he intends to have an offer on the table in the next few weeks.’
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Readers' comments (3)
B.S.Townroe | 02/03/2010 12:02 pm
No irony here, then. Who would've thought that the Tories, many of whom think that social rents should not be lower than market levels, think the current rent increase is 'unfair'?!
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ordio72 | 02/03/2010 3:34 pm
Do you think the protestations about unfair rent increases is a poor attempt to display some form of social conscience, given the number of redundancies that will be happening in Birmingham?
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Max | 02/03/2010 10:21 pm
Councillor Lines writes that "I am determined to secure changes"...did his determinations work during his long tenure as cabinet member or is he merely trying to make political mileage from a system that everyone knows is going to change in the very future except him it appears. Lets hope he reads Inside Housing or that at the very least his staff read it and tell him.
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