Retired housing scheme residents in Milton Keynes say soaring bill and service charges are 'morally wrong'

Retirement living scheme residents in Milton Keynes say soaring increases to bills are ‘morally wrong’.

From April, those living in Jonathan Court, which is managed by housing association Stonewater, will face rising rent and service charges of just over 70 per cent - a monthly increase from £637 to £1,087 for a one-bed flat.

The apartment building in Coffee Hall comprises 31 one-bedroom flats for those who are retired and often vulnerable and in need of housing support.

And chair of the building’s resident association Tom Ward says even those receiving full housing benefit will have to cough up an extra £67 per week because some elements, such as personal heating bills, were not included. He added: “That’s impossible when residents are on state pension and pension credit. Most are on fixed incomes, too old to work and cannot do extra hours – these levels of increases are all morally wrong.”

The overall rise includes weekly electric and gas rates which, Mr Ward says, have increased from around £6.50 to £37 and £8 to £41, respectively. That does not include communal rates which have both increased by over 400 per cent. This means, the total for a one-bedroom flat for individual energy alone is over £4,100 per year – between two and three times higher than the average one-bedroom flat which, according to British Gas, is around £1,700.

Mr Ward added: “Whilst we can claim the £400 Energy Support payment and appreciate that gas and electricity prices have risen and expect to pay more, this will go no way to meet the levels of increase demanded by Stonewater. These cannot be afforded even by those on Pension Credit who will get more cost-of-living support from the Government.”

He has requested the price per unit for electricity and gas – a request the landlord has yet to fulfil.

According to Stonewater, customers who receive their energy supply via a communal system are not protected by the same Ofgem energy price cap as individual homeowners, who get their energy directly from a supplier due to differing rules between commercial and domestic customers. The company says it is ‘disappointed’ there is not more government help for those with commercial supplies and has been campaigning through the National Housing Federation to highlight the issue.

The social landlord also told The MK Citizen increases to the rent were in line with government policy, including the recommended limit of 11 per cent for specialist supported housing. A seven per cent cap applies to accommodation falling under ‘general needs housing’.

A spokesperson said: “We absolutely stand with customers over these concerns. The parameters for social housing rents are set by government and supported housing is excluded from the seven per cent cap applied to other tenures. We do not make a penny of profit from service or energy charges and are committed to ensuring that no customer should ever be at risk of losing their home because of energy debt.

“We will always support anyone struggling to find workable solutions.”