Councils reject Government's rent rise plans

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Local Government

Ipswich Borough Council is the latest local authority to reject Government guidelines that propose a 7.2 per cent rent rise for council tenants.

Councillors decided to settle for a 5.6 per cent rise instead.

Campaign group Defend Council Housing has recently warned that the Government’s self-financing reforms – which will see councils shoulder a near £20 billion debt burden – will force councils to endorse “huge rent rises”.

A spokesman for Ipswich Borough Council told 24dash: “The 7.2 per cent rise was part of Government guidelines and was the highest we could go to.

“However we decided to settle for 5.6 per cent, in accordance with the Retail Price Index.”

Similarly, council tenants in Reading may face a 4.5 per cent increase in rent, following an agreement from council bosses to recommend the rate to the full council.

At a special council meeting last week, Newcastle City Council also supported lobbying and campaigning against the rent rise.

Councillors endorsed the decision of Your Homes Newcastle to write to the Department for Communities and Local Government to demand “that the actual rent increase for 2012-2013 be determined at 5.6%”.

Meanwhile, London Mayor candidate Ken Livingstone has signed up to a Housing Emergency statement that calls to “reject huge council rent rises driven by government debt and inflation formula”.