Sandwell Council rents set to rise by £150
Rent rises which will see council tenants pay more than £150 extra a year were due to be approved by councillors today.
Cash-strapped Sandwell Council, which must make cuts of £100 million by 2017, said it has no option but to increase charges for residents by 3.8 per cent.
Bosses were being recommended to approve the average rent rise of 3.8 per cent increase from April at a meeting today.
Chiefs insist they have tried to keep any rise below the Government's guideline.
Councillor Ian Jones, the borough's regeneration chief, said this was a 'regrettable' move for the Labour-dominated authority to make.
He said: "Increasing rents is always going to be regrettable. We know other authorities are having to do the same but we think Sandwell is going to be one of the lowest increases.
"We have to do this because rent pays into the money we use for repairs and improvements to homes, and if we didn't do it, tenants would see a poorer service."
"We've tried to bring in as low an increase as we can. We could not ask other taxpayers to cover the shortfall in our housing revenue account, so we have to raise the rent for tenants."
