Councillors vote against officers' rent rise
Councillors have rejected officers’ calls for a 7.8 per cent rent rise and instead are using proposed savings to implement an increase of 6.8 per cent.
At a meeting at Stevenage Council last night, councillors rejected officers’ proposals for an increase in line with the government’s national rent restructuring formula.
Councillors said the decision was based on a desire minimise the effects of the recession on Stevenage householders.
They also said that the transfer of Stevenage Homes, the council’s arms-length management organisation, back to the council would provide annual savings of more than £1 million which could be used to meet any shortfall.
Ann Webb, member for housing, said: ‘Prices are going up everywhere, people are already being hit hard, and we don’t want to make it worse.
‘The most vulnerable people will probably be protected as they will receive housing benefit, so the rent increase will have the greatest impact on those people who are not on benefit and who work hard just to make ends meet.
‘With many of our houses now 40, 50 or 60 years old, we do need to be able to balance maintaining our housing with ensuring that our rents are affordable.
‘I firmly believe that we should do whatever we can to reduce the rent increase yet at the same time ensuring we can maintain our housing.
‘I am proud to note that this puts us amongst the minority of councils in the country who have decided to try and do what we can for our tenants during hard times by smoothing out the impact of high inflation.’
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Readers' comments (8)
F451 | 26/01/2012 12:21 pm
"With many of our houses now 40, 50 or 60 years old, we do need to be able to balance maintaining our housing with ensuring that our rents are affordable."
Well Mrs Webb - what did the Decent Homes money get spent on then - surely the outcome of having completed the decent homes work should be lower onward maintenance costs - or is that too difficult for a Labour politician to comprehend!
Whilst saving money by scrapping the ALMO, along with the surplus already being generated by current rents, the Council could afford an even lower rent increase, potentially at or below inflation, and really help tenants who truly are struggling to live because of the policies of the Government (supported by Mrs Webb's colleagues in Parliament).
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Rick Campbell | 26/01/2012 12:43 pm
That's the spirit -- grind the workers down.
What are they going to do with the dosh they would save -- build gas chambers to take care of all the suffering children whose births are being blamed by some for all the ills that capping will cure?
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Rick Campbell | 26/01/2012 12:48 pm
OOOPPPS -- how did 'workers' get in there ... must be getting to uptight about future generations ...
'That's the spirit -- grind them down' is what it should have said and the money refers to the ALMO money saved.
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F451 | 26/01/2012 12:54 pm
Absloutely Rick - getting ahead of the plan - jobless first, then the disabled, then the workers (predicated by tenure, ethnicity and faith grouping for priority of course - oh, and not forgetting the new 'Social Worth'!)
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Jono | 26/01/2012 1:13 pm
‘I firmly believe that we should do whatever we can to reduce the rent increase yet at the same time ensuring we can maintain our housing.'
Have the costs of maintenance gone up by 6.8%? Like hell they have. Private rents have higher maintenance costs and those rents increased on average by less than inflation.
I'm sure this will lead to more HB expense.
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F451 | 26/01/2012 2:36 pm
If we are in agreement Jono, could this indicate that one of us is right!
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Jono | 27/01/2012 1:03 am
F451/Chris/Sydney - it certainly could be confusing which one of you is right! Do you all agree with each other?
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Sidney Webb | 27/01/2012 8:01 am
Very rarely Jono - but I do try to keep the others in order, despite being so very tired most of the time.
It saddens me to see the family name worn with such incompetence!
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