2008 Rent Increases - Happy New Year From Hackney Council

A charming little missive landed on my doormat over Christmas.

It was Hackney Council's 'consultation' concerning the 2008 rent increases. This invites tenants to vote on three different 'choices':

An increase of £3.77 per week - (5.30%) - with service reductions, and future higher increases.

An increase of £7.12 per week - (10%) - with services maintained at the same level.

An increase of £8.74 per week - (12.27%) - services improved.

As always in local government, nothing is ever their fault. All the hype over the years that if only everyone paid their rent, if only everyone paid their council tax, if only we got rid of all the squatters, rents would fall. It is now exposed as the lie we always knew it was. Indeed, all the excuses now fade behind the brave new world of housing in England:

"The government wishes to see the same level of rents for similar Council and housing association properties in the same area".

In other words all those working class council tenants have had it good for too long, and now is the time to screw them as hard as possible. Only it is not our fault, it is the governments. Happy New Year by the way!

I live in a tower block. As there are no similar Housing Association properties to my block, does that mean my estate is exempt from the changes? I doubt it. Hackney Council has declared war - on the poorest people in the borough. It is a war they deserve to lose - badly.