REGARDING your Comment on February 6, on council house rent increases. (KFTRA) Kirklees Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations have always objected to the unfair government policy of rent convergence which increases the rent of council tenants’ rents every year at above the rate of inflation.
This increase is not based on the amount needed to keep council homes in good repair and run the housing service to tenants, but is part of the government’s policy to bring council rents to the same level as those charged by housing associations.
So do council tenants in Kirklees benefit from this inflation busting rent increase? The simple answer is no. The government takes back over £14 million every year into its own coffers from the council rents paid in Kirklees.
KFTRA took an active role in the national campaign against this ‘Daylight Robbery’ and I have taken part in tenant demonstrations in London, lobbied Housing Ministers and continue to work with the national tenants’ movement, to put a stop to this unfair tax on council tenants in Kirklees.
Cora Carter MBE
Chair Kirklees Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations
