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Lambeth increases the rent of council tenancies by £60-£75 PER WEEK

Having had quick read of the two websites I would say this. FPA is more for action- demos / organising TRA etc. Citzens advice more on the legal route.

Getting info on who provides the heating/ contracts/ cost seems important. To ask the Council to give a justifciation on price increase. This could possibly be contested.

Find out if Council get Energy Bill Relief scheme. As they should pass any discount on.

The above could be questions for Ward Cllrs as they have more power to get answers of officers. They might not even be aware of this price hike.

So ask Cllrs to get details of energy supply.

Ask if Council is part of Heat Trust ( I dont see them on it, But I may be wrong)

I notice in my letter about new rent the Coucnil have set up a dispute arbitration service for repairs. Im wondering if this could also be used to cover dispute on service charge increase.

It also looks like Housing Ombudsman might be a port of call if get no joy from Council.

FPA also say publicity is good idea. So Brixton Buzz article. Labour Council hiking up communal heating costs does not look good.

As an aside at recent Scrutiny meeting on the transition to Leisure services coming inhouse the senior officers was very positive that the Council had got a competitative deal on energy contract for Leisure centres. So perhaps ask Cllrs about how that has happened. And why not for Council tenants.

It does look like collectively your estate residents could pursue a few avenues and first of all get advice.

FPA btw are keen to get people on their email list. That could be good idea.
 
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domestos said:
You'd wonder why we'd vote them in again but have a look at Croydon's Tory increases. How the hell are people supposed to cope with rises like this. Time for can't pay won't pay. Sort of worked once before
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There's a very long explanation about why Croydon's Council is struggling. Here's the report from Richard Penn. Jo Negrini, one time Director of Regeneration in Lambeth, and then (former) Chief Executive of Croydon, doesn't come out of it well.

It's a long read, but some of the detail is priceless.

The Penn report 2023
 
I would say reading the FPA and Citizens Advice website there are at least some avenues that can be explored to oppose these extremely high rent / service charge increases.
 
Got my letter from Council out about this years rent increase. ( I consider myself lucky as live in old street property so do not pay any service charges).

The covering letter from Cabinet member for "Better" Homes Clr Wandle says my rent increase is due to the War in Ukraine. Yep this will be from now on the standard line trotted out by politicians.

Its the War in Ukraine that means ( fill in with whatever price increases / cuts are made. ) So one cant complain.

( to be fair the other excuse is the economic crisis. But then that is also linked to War in Ukraine.)

Its a good one as it gives impression its all out of our political classes hands.
 
In fairness she paid for this easy mistake, hang on it turns out she was paid for it, some £437,000. Can that be true? Didn't realise they were ex-Lambeth although it did sound very Nu-Labour
 
domestos said:
You'd wonder why we'd vote them in again but have a look at Croydon's Tory increases. How the hell are people supposed to cope with rises like this. Time for can't pay won't pay. Sort of worked once before
Click to expand...

Its an idea. If get enough people to do it.

I dont know the legal side however. As this is a service charge on rent it could lead one liablle to eviction proceedings.
 
domestos said:
In fairness she paid for this easy mistake, hang on it turns out she was paid for it, some £437,000. Can that be true? Didn't realise they were ex-Lambeth although it did sound very Nu-Labour
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She was a favourite officer of the Nu Labour Cllrs in Lambeth. On back of work here got her job in Croydon. Full of herself she was.
 
£60-75 a week extra sounds bananas, I know heating has gone up but who is paying that much more than last year?
 
Does the rent include electricity or just heating?

Because my first thought was "bloody hell and I moaned about the HA putting mine up by £10 a week"

Then I had the depressing relisation that once the government's £400 is gone and the price cap goes up again I'm looking at about £30-40 a week more myself from just gas electric and rent!

Fortunately, I'm getting my first decent pay rise in about 10 years and that will almost cover it, not sure how other are going to manage it.
 
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Sorry to hear this. We have a communal heating system in the block I live in (managed by a resident owned company) but our usage is individually controlled and metered. Our charges have just gone up again and are now 5x or 6x what we were paying a few years ago. Our system used to be like yours and the problem is people have no control over their usage. We only switched to individual control with a whole new heating system but it's worth finding out if it can be retrofitted. The problem is the cost of doing that will probably be result in charges for leaseholders.

Even with individual control our bills are huge as our flat is poorly insulated.

It's part of a bigger problem with communal systems, as gas supplies (bought by councils or property managers) are treated as being commercial rather than residential so are not subject to the energy cap in the same way. Someone mentioned Heat Trust, who might be worth speaking to as they know all about this issue.
 
Gramsci said:
Its an idea. If get enough people to do it.

I dont know the legal side however. As this is a service charge on rent it could lead one liablle to eviction proceedings.
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Not directly, but clearly if people can't afford the huge increase in the service charge - their rent arrears will increase - which could lead to action on the rent arrears. That said, I think the courts may be unwilling to issue possession orders/eviction warrants if the cause is the huge increase in heating costs.
 
The conspiracy theorist in me says that the people in power want everyone cold and starving "living" on the streets.

At what point is the cost of living crises going to get better? Will it? Is this it? :(
 
Used to read it decades ago but felt it was drifting right but now the UK has moved further in that direction thought its worth giving it a go. My wife got me a subscription for Christmas but in all honesty they sit in their covering still intact because the font it so small I find it a drag to read, same for The Week. Time to make an effort, put my specs on and load futile indignation mode.
 
This is disgusting. A circa 240 quid monthly cost to people who lets face it are probably not exactly rolling in it anyway. I wouldn't have been able to afford this just a couple of years ago myself whilst tin social housing. And to have no control over your use / charge. not that shivering in doors should be the alternative.
 
xenon said:
This is disgusting. A circa 240 quid monthly cost to people who lets face it are probably not exactly rolling in it anyway. I wouldn't have been able to afford this just a couple of years ago myself whilst tin social housing. And to have no control over your use / charge. not that shivering in doors should be the alternative.
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If I've understood correctly, it's a £240 increase, over and above what rent and electric payments people are already paying.

For comparison, I'm paying a total of £196 per month for gas and electricity in my one bedroom flat, which is still way too much, but (fortunately) just about manageable.
 
marty21 said:
I'm guessing you don't have heating charges included in the rent
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here it is in all its gory

PXL-20230303-133334760.jpg
 
donkyboy said:
here it is in all its gory

PXL-20230303-133334760.jpg
Click to expand...
Yep , you pay the heating via an energy co. The rent increase is about 10% , a jump yes, based on the inflation rate in September. The Ed pays a heating charge as he has communal heating & has no control over the usage, and those charges are based on what Lambeth pays for gas .
 
editor said:
My weekly rent is going up from £157 to £234 - so that's an increase of over £300 every month.

Residents have been given just four weeks notice.
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If energy charges come down over next year , then this time next year there will be a big decrease in your weekly charge (rent + service charges) . The rent bit will go up by maybe 8/9% (watch for the inflation rate in Sept) but the heating charge should reduce , depending on how much Lambeth pays for gas .

No help this year I know.
 
editor said:
My weekly rent is going up from £157 to £234 - so that's an increase of over £300 every month.

Residents have been given just four weeks notice.
Click to expand...

That's crazy. Like I expect that kind of thing from private landlords but not a council. Do they usually only give 4 weeks notice?
 
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