AN END TO THE RIVERSIDE RENT HIKE

CHANCELLOR

GEORGE LETS RIP

AND TENANT
JIMMY

DOES TOO!

George Osborne..."going to end this racket."

George and Jimmy  have a joint hit list. Both men have the same  target... housing associations and how they abuse their power.George Osborne  has targeted all the associations. Jimmy Robb has only one association in his sights.

Chancellor George  used his  Budget to rip up a long-standing government  settlement  with  the housing associations. Then he imposed cuts in rents. Jimmy  used his right  to quit and  ripped up a long-standing tenancy agreement with the Liverpool based Riverside Housing Association.

Chancellor George`s surprise change in the settlement kills off the present permission for the  associations to increase rents by the rate of inflation plus one per cent until the year 2026. Instead, rents will  fall by one per cent for the next four years. Yes, rents will fall.

Tenant Jimmy`s change was no surprise. For three years he has suffered from Riverside neglect causing freezing conditions and other difficulties in his home,  a flat  in Moor Road, Longtown(Cumbria) . Now Jimmy has had enough of Riverside and its uncaring ways

Chancellor George also has had enough, he told the House of Commons in his Budget  statement.

‘We are going to end the racket  of ever-higher housing benefit chasing up ever higher rents in the social housing sector. These rents have increased by a staggering 20% since 2010. This will be a welcome cut in rents for those tenants who pay it`,he said.

Jimmy Robb.."I have had enough."

Tenant Jimmy will not be there to enjoy the rent cut. As Chancellor George was delivering his rent cut news to M.P.s. Jimmy was moving out of his Riverside flat into a new flat  which has  a landlord who cares.

Jimmy said: “Like the sixty or so other Riverside tenants in Longtown, I have had to put up with dodgy boilers which are so expensive to run no tenant can afford to heat their home properly.

“That is bad enough but what is worse, Riverside will do nothing about it.”

Jimmy himself has  tried to do something about it. He protested, then led the  tenants` fight back  and became chairman of  an action group, Longtown Action for Heat which for more than a year has been campaigning against Riverside neglect and failure in its duty of care.

 Jimmy says Riverside have responded with a smear campaign against him and  others in the action group. “We have actually got the sympathy of many of the Riverside staff  but they dare not speak out because they would lose their jobs”.

Longtown Action for Heat meets this week and though Jimmy will no longer be a Riverside tenant, he intends to be there to continue to lead the fight   for the freezing tenants.

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which is supporting  the Longtown tenants also meets this week.The Federation  has campaigned  for years against the rocketing housing association charges, now  so  dramatically attacked and halted by Chancellor George.

Hopefully, it will not be too long before there is a successful end to another Federation campaign.. to end the rocketing housing association surpluses(profits) and the fat cat salaries these excessive charges have produced.

 
Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information  about the Federtion is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803.