Council house tenants have seen their rents rise four times
quicker than average wages in the past five years, outstripping even the
private sector and putting greater pressure on the country’s welfare bill. The
average weekly rent for a council house in England rose by 27 per cent between
2010-11 and 2014-15, up from £67.83 to £85.89 per week – an increase of £939 in
annual rent – data from the Department for Communities and Local Government
shows.
This was roughly four times faster than wage growth, with average
weekly earnings in Great Britain rising barely 6 per cent over the same
timeframe. It has also been more than 50 per cent faster than the rise in
council rents during the previous five-year period. Between April 2010 and
March 2015, private rents grew by 11.5 per cent on average, less than half as
quickly as council rents. Since most council tenants receive housing benefit,
sharp rises in council rents have combined with high private rents and stagnant
wages to drive up the country’s housing benefit bill.
John Healey, Labour’s shadow housing minister, said: “The
real problem in our society has been wages flat-lining while costs are rising.
Rent increases have part of the pressure put in ordinary families’ budgets. The
Government has redefined the word ‘affordable’. For a council tenant, it used
to mean half the open market rent. Now it’s 80 per cent of market rents. The
risk for people is that what are designed to be affordable rented homes becomes
harder and harder to afford.”
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