Council house rent to rise in Wigan despite opposition protests

Rent will rise by 1.5 per cent for all council homes in the borough from April after councillors voted for an above-inflation increase despite last-minute pleas against it.
Wigan Town Hall, where full council meetings take placeWigan Town Hall, where full council meetings take place
Wigan Town Hall, where full council meetings take place

The borough’s 21,676 tenants living in council dwellings will see an average weekly increase of £1.16, taking the average cost of rent to £78.22 per week, following the latest full council meeting.

Garage rents will also increase by 0.5 per cent, resulting in a weekly rise of 2p.

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It will be the second rent rise in two years, following a 2 per cent increase in 2020, but follows a four-year period in which councils were forced to reduce rent.

Leading councillors said the £12m generated from the 1.5 per cent rent rise will be invested in the council homes and help the council replenish its housing stock.

But opposition councillors urged their colleagues to vote against the increase.

Atherton councillor James Watson spoke of the difficulties families are facing with the number of Universal Credit claimants doubling during the pandemic.

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He said: “1.5 per cent doesn’t seem a lot to you and me, this could make or break some families or send them to the foodbank.

“Then you consider the council tax increases which are pretty much inevitable.

“The rise in the cost of living, utility bills and food and all of a sudden, this council whose motto is Be Kind isn’t very kind to those in low-income families and they’re the most vulnerable within our wards and our communities.”

Bryn councillor Steve Jones complained about the quality of service tenants receive and said the standard of council properties does not justify a rent rise.

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The independent councillor, who has also worked as a plasterer in the past, suggested the council should find savings rather than raising tenants’ rents.

Criticising the quality of tradesmen employed by the council, he said: “I have worked in the trade for 16 years and there’s a bit of a joke. If you do a job for the council, you put a high price in, they’ll accept it, it’s like monopoly money.”

Hindley Green councillor Paul Maiden added: “It’s supposed to be a social council, this. Why are we hitting the vulnerable, the needy and the poor again?

“The council houses are not that great anyway are they? I mean look at the state of them. I just think it’s a bad move and it’s bad timing. And nobody who considers themselves a socialist in this town hall should be voting for this rise.”

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Wigan West councillor Terry Halliwell, who is responsible for the housing and welfare portfolio, said the rise in rent will be used to build 250 new homes.

He reminded councillors that local authorities were forced by central government to reduce council house rent by 1 per cent every year for four years, causing an estimated loss in rental income of £0.8m each year up to 2020.

Despite this, the council has built approximately 320 new homes in that time.

Tyldesley councillor Nazia Rehman, portfolio holder for finance, resources and transformation, said families facing financial hardship need a comprehensive welfare package, rather than piecemeal reliefs such as stopping a rise in rent.

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She said: “When we come to build more houses, then we’ll generate the economy, then we’ll create the apprenticeships and then we’ll be able to deliver the housing that we need because we have 9,500 people on our waiting list and many of them are on the brink of being homeless.”

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