Council tenants facing average rent rise of �300 from April

I write to update your readers on the rent increase that is set to hit thousands of council tenants across the city from April.Under government guidelines, average bills are set to soar by at least �300 a year and this will particularly affect tenants o

I write to update your readers on the rent increase that is set to hit thousands of council tenants across the city from April.

Under government guidelines, average bills are set to soar by at least �300 a year and this will particularly affect tenants on fixed incomes such as pensioners and those just above the benefit threshold the hardest.

We believe, however, that any increase should be kept to an absolute minimum.

As Britain slides further into recession, the government should be helping council tenants who tend to be on low incomes and not setting inflation-busting rent rises.

In the last few weeks, we have been working hard on behalf of our tenants to urge the government to reconsider their decision.

Such is the strength of feeling across the capital on this issue that seven other councils from across London have now also joined our campaign.

Despite the government's indication that it will re-examine the implications of their proposals, we have not had any direct response from them after we raised our concerns.

Over the next few weeks, however, we will continue to fight against this increase and to keep this issue in the public eye.

Yours faithfully,

Cllr Philippa Roe

Cabinet Member for Housing

Westminster Council

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