COUNCIL tenants in Stevenage will see their rent rise by 6.8 per cent from April this year, meaning an increase of £5.65 per week on average.
Councillors voted against a council officers’ recommendation of a larger 7.8 per cent increase hoping that the shortfall in revenue will be met by savings made by taking control of the housing stock back from Stevenage Homes.
The increase was voted through by both the Labour and Conservative groups last Tuesday, with the Liberal Democrat group calling for just a five per cent rise.
The transfer of the housing stock from arms length management organisation Stevenage Homes back to the council last December is expected to provide annual savings of £1.1million.
Councillor Ann Webb, the council’s executive 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."
She added: "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."
But Lib Dem leader Cllr Robin Parker said after the meeting that the ruling Labour group had promised that taking back control of council housing would be better for tenants.
"I warned that the move was not necessarily the best option and that other possibilities should have been looked at first. It seems I was right."
"I wonder how many Stevenage Homes tenants will think it was such a good idea, now that Labour have just pushed up their rents by nearly 7 per cent?
"Even the Coalition government’s cut in income tax (by raising the threshold by £1,000 in the 2011/2012 budget) from which most earners will benefit, is not enough to offset this increase."
