Public sector workers protest outside Peabody HQ against the 9 per cent rent rise 

• REGARDING the proposed 9 per cent rent increase Cumberland Market residents will be expected to pay in April (Rent hike for key workers, March 21), many of us were shocked to hear that people who are designated as key workers are deemed to be what is called an “intermediate” rather than “social” tenant even though they have worked, or are currently working, in a range of vital but low-paid public services that keep a city like London functioning.

Your report mentioned that “maintenance of the flats has been deteriorating”. So basically the landlord Peabody wants them to pay much more for living on an estate that is not even properly looked after, and to just accept this without complaint!

It’s also disappointing these big landlords with annual turnovers of hundreds of millions of pounds, and in the case of Peabody over £1billion, are not willing to listen to their tenants and review the decisions that they have chosen to make.

Can they not see that if you push people who are already struggling even further to the edge that there are real-life consequences? There will be increasing poverty levels and numbers of people ending up behind with the rent and possibly facing eviction.

Even worse, many housing association tenants are also facing big hikes in service charges, often for services they don’t actually receive, and for poor quality services.

In lots of cases when these have been challenged by tenants, their landlord is unable to satisfactorily explain how they have arrived at the figures, either by ignoring them altogether or blaming it on “rising costs”.

So we would ask all housing associations operating in Camden:

• To engage with tenants before raising rents, and to think through the financial implications of such decisions, not only on the organisation but also the humans they are housing;

• To be open, honest and transparent about service charges, and to always ask the questions: does our service charges team actually know what they are doing, do they have the resources required to carry out their job properly, and if not, what do we need to do to improve the service.

It should also be noted that tenants also have a right under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to inspect documents relating to service charges. Facilities for inspection must be provided within one month of the request and must be available for a period of two months.

Finally, we would strongly urge tenants facing both rent and service charge increases to follow the example of the Peabody ones: to come together not only across Camden, but in the other boroughs and areas where the landlord is operating and seek urgent meetings with their senior officers.

Camden Housing Association Residents Group (CHARG) meets on a quarterly basis, and is open to any resident of a housing association in Camden. To go on the mailing list for it email: admin@cfpt.org.uk

ROBERT TAYLOR
Camden Federation of Private Tenants (CFPT), NW5