COSTS ARE ‘REALLY STARTING TO BITE’ Increase in bills shocks residents
RESIDENTS at a housing association have said they are ‘disgusted and shocked’ after their rent and heating bills have ‘skyrocketed,’ with some seeing an increase of £20 a week.
Working residents who live in Byker Community Trust and Karbon Homes properties in Newcastle face an extra £80 on their monthly bills to the housing association, on top of increasing energy bills, while those receiving benefits have seen an increase proportionate to their income.
A letter was issued to tenants in February, notifying them of the price increase, but residents have said there was ‘no consultation’ ahead of this.
Rent has increased in line with the Government’s social housing rent cap of seven per cent, but the biggest increase on customers’ bills relates to heating and infrastructure. The Byker Estate is powered by the Byker District Heating System, which was installed with the building of the estate in the 1970s and is owned and managed by Newcastle City Council.
The system was designed to provide unlimited heating and hot water to all homes on the estate, as well as other buildings, and residents are still able to use unlimited heating now as part of their tenancy agreements.
They are also seeing two charges on their bills, an infrastructure charge that encompasses running costs for the heating system and a heat charge to cover the cost of fuel supplying heating and hot water.
Heat charges in smaller properties have increased by £3.05 per week for those on benefits, and £8.48 per week for working customers. Four bedroom properties, the largest on the estate, have seen a typical increase of £10.01 per week for customers receiving benefits and £13.61 per week for working customers.
Jackie Leydon, 52, has lived in her home on Janet Street for 20 years and says: “It’s a massive increase. I’m shocked because it’s another large bill on top of everything else going up.
“I feel pretty disgusted because normally it only goes up by £5 a week.”
Jackie lives with her partner and 11-year-old daughter and says their outgoings have increased by around £220 per month, taking into account energy, water, council tax, shopping and the new charge from Karbon
Homes and Byker Community Trust.
She has resorted to working from home as often as she can to cut petrol costs – though that’s not an option for everyone.
Jackie is also worried her daughter’s first holiday abroad will not be able to go ahead as they will struggle to find the spending money to go away. She added: “Obviously, we’re having to tighten our belts and we’re not able to spend as much money.
“We’re struggling to pay for the holiday we booked last year, and God knows where we’re going to get the spending money from. It’s all going on rent and bills, we’re trying everything just to cut our monthly spends down.”
Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Sunday Sun their rent had gone up by £88 a month and the cost of living crisis was “really starting to bite”.
They said: “When the rent officer told me about the increase on the phone, I literally swore and she said she’d had a lot of similar responses.
“I’m fuming, everyone’s going on about the cost of living, I’m seeing food prices going up all the time but this is the first time that I’ve actually seen it affect me personally. I live off my wages week to week and sometimes there’d be a few quid spare that week but that’s all gone now.”
A third resident, who also asked to remain anonymous, has lived in the Byker Wall for several decades. Their rent and heating bills have increased from £118 to £138, but they said there is no option but to find the money.
However, not all residents are incensed at the increase.
Mark Ford, who lives in a Karbon Homes property and has called the Byker Wall home for 21 years, says it is the private homeowners, such as his mam, who he feels sorry for.
He said: “I don’t like the idea of paying it, but for what they invest, it’s got to be done. We’re paying more for heating, rent and an administration fee, but they’re putting in a lot of new pipework around the estate.
“It’s the private homeowners I feel sorry for. You can live in two identical houses across the street yet one is paying more for their heating than the other. We pay £37.95 a week for our heating an infrastructure, yet my mam pays £47.21 – it doesn’t make sense.”
Two residents who asked to remain anonymous told the Sunday Sun the rent increase had been put in place to cover kitchen and bathroom renovations. However, Karbon Homes says that this is not the case, and the investment
I don’t like the idea of paying it, but for what they invest, it’s got to be done. We’re paying more for heating, rent and an administration fee, but they’re putting in a lot of new pipework around the estate.
MARK FORD
in modernisation works to all homes on the estate comes from a £36m of funding pot established when Byker Community Trust joined Karbon Homes in 2021.
Michelle Bell, assistant director of Byker Community at Karbon Homes, said: “Last year, the Government confirmed there would be a social housing rent cap of 7% in 2023, to support households with the rising cost of living. As a result, our rents have increased by 7% from April 3, 2023.
“For the last 11 years, there has been no increase in heating and hot water charges to Byker customers, which means the costs paid back in 2012 remained the same as customers paid until the end of March 2023. We’ve tried not to increase these charges for as long as possible but, like the rest of the country, we are faced with unprecedented fuel and energy price increases. Therefore, we need to increase charges from April 2023. Our charges have been brought in line with what British Gas class as a ‘low consumption charge.’”