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Rent hikes threaten the institution of council housing
Above-inflation rent increases will push council tenants deeper into poverty while failing to address the housing crisis — and it won’t really raise any money, as council rent arrears are doubling across the country, argues MARTIN WICKS
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RATHER than proposing to increase the financial pressure on tenants with above-inflation rent increases, councils should be seeking the support of tenants in a campaign for the government to fund Housing Revenue Accounts (HRAs) sufficiently to maintain and improve existing homes.
Support for the government’s proposal for five years of above-inflation rent increases for council and housing association tenants is almost universal with housing associations and is even supported by some councils that have signed the document Securing the Future of Council Housing.
London councils are calling for 10 years of CPI plus 1 per cent. Clearly, councils are short of the funding they need to maintain and improve their homes. Yet above-inflation increases are, in our view, short-sighted and counter-productive. It will further impoverish already poor tenants who do not have their rent covered by housing benefit.
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