London Tenants Federation (LTF) strongly opposes the government proposal for a five- or ten-year programme of above inflation rent rises for social rent tenants.  LTF calls for a freeze on social rents and a greatly increased government programme of funding to social landlords to compensate them for over 40 years of underfunding and neglect of the sector.

The majority of council and housing association tenants are on very limited incomes. Penalising the poorest by burdening them with an additional five or ten years, rent increase at inflation plus one per cent, to bail out underfunded councils and housing associations is socially immoral. Social rent tenants had a 7% rent rise last year and 7.7% rise this year.  Arrears are shooting up.  People are fearful of losing their homes: housing association assured tenants can be evicted if they are as little as two months in arrears.

If we really want more social rent housing built, government funding is and always has been the only way.  A boost of £500 million for the Affordable Homes Programme, while welcome, is a drop in the ocean.

It is both unfair and unrealistic to expect current social rent tenants to provide funding for both the backlog of repairs and refurbishment desperately needed to existing social rent homes, and the construction or buy-back, also desperately needed, of more.

Pat Turnbull, LTF regional delegate said: ‘How will it help to add even more homeless people to the ones the councils are already struggling to house?  Paying for temporary accommodation in the private rented sector is already threatening many councils with bankruptcy.’

The following graphic does not include service charges which in central London is often more than double rent charges.