Wandsworth council triples energy bills for tenants

A council will more than triple weekly heating and hot water bills as inflation and rising costs squeeze the authority’s budget.

The charges hike had already been approved by Wandsworth council’s housing committee and the executive gave the final green light on Monday.

It means charges for heating and hot water from the council’s communal boilers will rise by 270 per cent from April 3 for the 2023/24 financial year – an increase in average charges from £6.28 to £22.67 per week.

The rise in charges reflects the higher prices being charged by the council’s energy supplier, LASER, which has increased by an average of 270 per cent for council buildings since October 2022, according to a council report.

The report adds: “Despite this increase, the deficit on the heating and hot water account is still expected to increase by the end of 2023/24 to £3.360 million.

“It will then be necessary to carry forward a deficit on the heating and hot water account, which will then be recovered over several years.”

The council runs 50 communal boiler schemes which supply centralised heating and hot water to 3,453 households in estates across Wandsworth.

The authority said the charge impacts one per cent of the total residents in the borough.

The executive also approved plans to increase the number of estate managers supporting council tenants on Monday.

Additional plans to hike council housing rents by seven per cent from April 3 for the 2023/24 financial year were also green-lit by the committee.

The proposal will now go to full council on February 8 for the final decision. Non-residential charges are also proposed to increase by seven per cent – including those for garages, parking lots and store sheds.

Labour councillor Aydin Dikerdem, cabinet member for housing, previously said: “Inflation and the huge rise in prices has posed a real challenge to the housing department.

“But the proposed below inflation rise will enable Wandsworth to meet its costs, as well as improving and expanding a high-quality and responsive service for our tenants, and support the investment in more estate managers and the delivery of much-needed new council housing for our borough.”

Pictured top: Wandsworth town hall (Picture: Google Street View)