Elderly residents go on energy bill strike after council hikes charges by £2,000

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Elderly residents are refusing to pay their energy bills after the council hiked their heating and hot water payments by more than £2,000 per year.

More than half of the residents at Macintosh Court sheltered housing complex in Leigham Court Road, Streatham, have told Lambeth council they will refuse to pay the bills, which increased by 352 per cent in April.

Tenants of the 45-flat estate pay their heating and hot water bill as part of a weekly lump sum, which also includes their rent and door entry system charge. Many of the complex’s residents only receive a basic pension of £156.20 per week, and say they don’t have enough money to cover the extra costs.

In letters sent to town hall boss Bayo Dosunmu, the 28 Macintosh Court residents said they would only pay a seven per cent increase on the weekly rent and service charge they paid from April 2022.

The letter adds: “I have been forced to take this action because I am on a basic pension, living in sheltered housing that is in poor condition, and have already been affected by a 40-year-high cost of living without my income keeping pace with inflation.”

In February, Lambeth council wrote to the 43 current residents of Macintosh Court informing them about rent and service charge increases that would come into effect from April.

A breakdown of the new charges sent to one resident showed that the rent element would only increase by seven per cent, from £88.95 to £95.18 per week.

But the weekly hot water and heating part of the charge would see a hike of 352 per cent, from £11.31 to £51.21 per week.

The increase means they have to shell out more than £2,000 extra every year on heating and hot water alone.

Janet Gayle, 68, one of the 28 tenants who are refusing to pay the new amount, said residents had had enough.

She said: “We believe the increases are unjust and unfair. We are willing to pay our rent and the seven per cent uplift. But the rises they’ve inflicted on us are ridiculous.

“People are getting very upset. They’ve always paid their rent and now they’re realising they’ve all been screwed. We’ve pleaded with them and said ‘what can we do?’

“We can’t work. No employer will take us on because of our age. There’s a lot of physical health issues and mental health issues here and they’re getting very bad because of all this going on.”

A Lambeth council spokesman said: “We understand the concern about the increase of £6.23 in rent, £31.50 in heating costs and £8.40 in hot water bills in February’s notice. These increases reflect rising costs resulting from the war in Ukraine, which has led to record energy prices and high inflation.

“We strive to keep rents and service charges as low as possible, but unfortunately the economic climate means these rises are unavoidable.

“In 2022 the council’s long-term contracts meant we were able to keep costs low for our residents. Unfortunately, those contracts are now over, meaning we are no longer able to shelter people from the higher bills that people across the country have faced since the energy crisis started.”

The council added that it had set aside an extra £10million this year to support residents with the cost of living.

Pictured top: Residents of Macintosh Court in Streatham are unhappy about the bill rise (Picture: Robert Firth)