Council house rent rise will hit the poorest

The increase means the average rent for Warwick District Council-owned house will rise by £5.28 to to £75.79 a week.

It is the result of a scheme introduced in 2002 to bring council house rents around the country into line by 2012.

Last week, the district council’s executive committee felt it had little choice but to accept the increase.

Cllr Moira-Ann Grainger said: “If we had our own way this is not the type of increase we would be putting forward.”

Representing the council’s finance and resources committee, Cllr Jane Knight (Lab, Leamington Brunswick) said she was “disheartened” by the increase while council leader Cllr Michael Doody (Con, Radford Semele) said it would penalise the poorest people.

Rents for council-owned garages, which are not affected by any national scheme, are due to rise by 4.6 per cent - on average 22p a week.