Council tenants in Sandwell will have to pay hundreds of pounds extra in rent after a 7.6 per cent rise was approved.

It means tenants in the borough’s 29,000 council homes will have to find an average of £5.44 extra a week.

That equates to more than £282 a year.

The increase was approved at a private meeting yesterday.

The increase, approved by Sandwell’s finance chief Councillor Steve Eling and housing boss, Councillor Simon Hackett, will see the new average weekly rent bill increase to £77.17, from around £72.

The new rate will come into effect in October.

This compares with average weekly rents in Sandwell of £95 for housing association homes and £119 for tenants of private landlords.

Councillor Eling defended the increase saying the council had no choice and if rents had not increased, the Government would have taken money from them that would be spent on frontline services.

The Government’s rules are aimed at bringing council rent charges more in line with those charged by social landlords, such as housing associations.

Councillor Eling, said: “Nobody wants to put up rent bills but we have been left with no choice.

“If we don’t put them up, we would be penalised by the Government for not doing so. This would see money taken away from the council, which would in turn hit the services we provide to our tenants.”

The increase received cross party support with opposition Conservation group leader Councillor Ray Nock adding: “The council has done a decent job holding down the rent rises compared against other Black Country councils.”