Lambeth council tenants landed 353% increase in energy bills

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A father has hit out at a council after it hiked his flat’s heating and hot water bill by more than £2,200 a year.

Zach Mendelsohn is one of dozens of residents living in Ward Point tower in Kennington who Lambeth council has hit with the 353 per cent rise in the weekly charge.

Families received a letter earlier this year from the council telling them they would see their heating bill increase by £29.40 per week and their hot water by £16.80 per week from April 3 2023.

Mr Mendelsohn, 47, said residents like him were already struggling to deal with rising food prices and would have difficulty covering the massive new bills.

He said: “We’re struggling with electricity bills and food prices and for them to put it up by so much is just crazy. We’re coming into the summer but they’re charging us for heating as of April that won’t be used until September when it gets cool again.

“I can imagine a 200 per cent to 300 per cent increase, which is what we’ve seen with electricity prices. But the amount they’re proposing is too high. I have a button in my flat I can turn the heating off with and it’s off at the moment. They should take money off the price for heating I won’t be using.”

Residents of the tower on the Ethelred estate currently pay £8.33 per week for heating, but that will jump to £37.73 as of April, while hot water will rise from £4.76 per week to £21.56. The yearly service charge that people living in the block will have to pay will more than double from £1,674 per year to £3,949 from April.

Mr Mendelsohn has lodged a complaint with the council about the increases. He said the steep rises were even more frustrating given regular heating and hot water outages that he claimed residents had been suffering from since last autumn.

He said: “We’ve had intermittent heating and hot water since September. It was my daughter’s first day at school the other day and we had to boil kettles so she could have a bath. I’m running the tap now and the water is cold today.”

Mr Mendelsohn added: “We’re paying for a service we’re not getting. Never mind them charging us for a concierge, we’ve not had a proper concierge for the last few years. Our concierge comes and walks around a couple of times a day. That’s not a concierge in my view.”

Residents are due to meet local councillors in the coming weeks to air their concerns about the large service charge rises.

A spokesman for Lambeth council said: “We appreciate the very real challenges that rising costs are having on households at this time, but unfortunately these charges are set based on the market costs to provide gas and electricity that are affecting councils across the country.

“The council has long term gas and electricity contracts where the rates are set by energy providers. These contracts mean that while Lambeth council tenants did not see a rise in communal gas and electricity prices this financial year, there will be significant increases in the next 12 months.

“These costs are outside the council’s control and while we are providing financial support to tenants,  these rising heating and hot water costs are unavoidable. We will continue to work with providers to ensure that supplies are purchased at the best prices available, and that any future falls in energy prices will be passed onto tenants.”

Pictured top: Tenant Zach Mendelsohn outside Ward Point tower in Kennington (Picture: Robert Firth)