Council house rents in Wigan will increase by 2.5% in 2010, councillors agreed last night (13 January). The decision means the average rent will rise by £1.54 to £63.20 a week.
For the third year running tenants who sit on the board of Wigan and Leigh Housing Company, which manages the council’s 22,800 dwellings, had a big say in deciding the final rise and where the money would be spent.
The council’s cabinet member for Wigan and Leigh Housing, Councillor Fred Walker, said the rise would allow the council to deliver on tenants’ priorities for new boilers, action on anti-social behaviour and improvements to the repairs service.
He explained: “Councils are not allowed to subsidise rents or the housing management service from council tax. Since the maintenance and management of our homes is paid for by our tenants it seems only right that they should be involved in the big decisions affecting them.
“They met just before Christmas and worked through the options. They had been expecting a much higher guideline rent being proposed by the government and at one point last year a rise of over 6% had been suggested.
“Lobbying by our MPs has been successful and the rise is much lower. So the tenants have suggested a rent rise of around 2.5% and have asked for three things in return, namely more new boilers, increased action on anti-social behaviour and improvements to the repair service.”
Six tenants sit on the board that runs Wigan and Leigh Housing and they are elected by the borough’s 22,800 tenants.
Marjorie Marsden, tenant board member for the Atherton area forum, said: “No-one likes a rent rise so when we meet to consider the rent rise we look to make sure the rise is worth it.
“Last year we wanted a major programme to replace obsolete boilers. The programme started in April last year and we have already seen 2,000 new boilers installed. The new boilers are over 20% more efficient and save around £6 a week on the average fuel bill.
“With this year’s rent rise we have recommended that an extra £1 million is used to crank up the boiler replacement programme”.
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