I am a 77-year-old pensioner who has been a tenant of Lambeth council in London since my estate was built in 1977. We brought up our family here, and my husband died here, but I feel I am being priced out of my home by a 350% increase in the communal heating and hot water charges the council is applying. Coupled with the rise in rent and service charges, it means I’m having to pay an extra £76 a week. The heating and hot water charges have to be paid all year, and there is no way to economise because we pay the same, however much or little we use.
LF, London
In March, you and countless other council tenants across the London borough of Lambeth were given four weeks notice of a 58% increase in weekly rent and service charges. This included an eye-watering rise in the costs of your heating and hot water, provided from a central generator by a district heat network. Your weekly heating bill soared from £13.69 to £61.99 and the hot water from £4.76 to £21.56. On top of that, you have to pay separately for electricity and cooking gas. The letter, from the Labour-run council, helpfully told residents unable to afford the rises they could avoid them by ending their tenancy.
