A BOURNEMOUTH MP has met with residents at a retirement block facing significant rent and bill price hikes.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns attended the meeting at Williams Court in Westbourne where residents expressed anger at the increases, saying what is advertised as ‘affordable housing’ is no longer affordable, with many living off a state pension.

In letters sent out to residents, housing company Stonewater set out price increases to be introduced in April. This featured for many a 45.5 per cent increase in overall bills and rent, including increases of over 400 per cent for certain services.

At the meeting, residents said they knew an increase was coming, but did not expect it to be this high. 

One resident, Bobbie, said: “The rent has gone up by 11.1 per cent which is within government guidelines.

“But the overall rent, plus service charge, has gone up by 45.5 per cent. On a weekly basis, that amounts to £202.23 per week, for affordable social housing, or £817 per calendar month, which is more than many commercial landlords.

“We get figures like 438 per cent increase for communal heating."

Stonewater said all increases are in line with government guidelines and with universal energy cost increases, with service charge increases coming to cover actual costs.

It was agreed residents would compile a list of direct questions they would like answered by Stonewater, for the MP to take to the company at a meeting this week.

Mr Burns said he would also speak to his colleagues in government over the upcoming budget, and what support there will be for energy costs, following the end of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme at the end of March.

He said there needs to be greater dialogue between the company and the residents.

“There are clearly some understandably very unsettled and upset local residents who have been landed with very significant increases in the amount of money that they are being asked to pay for what they believe, and is billed as, affordable housing,” he said.

“There is also a need for clarity on what will be the successor scheme to the scheme that has kept the energy bills for the communal areas of accommodation such as this down, and that is something that I hope the chancellor will bring positive clarification to in next week’s budget.”

A spokesperson for Stonewater said: “We absolutely stand with customers over these concerns. The parameters for social housing rents are set by government and supported housing is excluded from the 7 per cent cap applied to other tenures.

"We do not make a penny of profit from service or energy charges and are committed to ensuring that no customer should ever be at risk of losing their home because of energy debt. We will always support anyone struggling to find workable solutions.”