Members of a Glasgow housing association took to the streets as the end of a freeze on rent prices will see their bills increase by 7 per cent.
On April 1, the rent freeze for social housing will come to an end with social landlords and housing associations able to increase rents up to inflation, which is currently at 13.4%.
Members of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Glasgow West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations have reported planned increases averaging 6.1%.
The Partick Housing Association is putting in place an increase of 7%, which tenants say is both unaffordable and has not been properly consulted on.
They say the increase does not reflect the service they receive, that they are unhappy with the consultation process that consulted 215 tenants out of 1,800, and that the survey was open to everyone so it's not possible to know that all responses were genuinely from residents.
Damien, who asked for his second name to be ommited, is a PHA tenant and handed over the letter.
He told The Herald: "It was something that came from above. To be fair to them they did a consultation process but it wasn’t what most people would consider to be a very transparent one.
“They reported figures but we don’t know how they arrived at them because it’s very at odds with our experience and there are a lot of us involved in it.
“Anyone would find a 7% rise in their rent difficult and social housing is something that’s generally in the lower income levels of the population.
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“Community organisations, which is how these organisations are portrayed, really should be trying to help us not be in a situation where our incomes are being hit at such a fundamental level.”
Andrew McAllister, PHA tenant and Living Rent Member said: "During a cost of living crisis, a rent hike of 7% is atrocious. And I have to say; a consultation isn’t really a consultation if people aren’t actively engaged and given the opportunity to give their actual thoughts.
"To be clear - Partick Housing Association have made no effort to actively engage with us as tenants in this year’s rent consultation, and I find it impossible to imagine any significant number of Partick Housing tenants having actually supported this eye watering rent hike."
Rhona Karangarajah, PHA tenant and Living Rent Member added: "For the state of the building I live in - Fortrose House - a rent increase is absolutely appalling.
"The building isn’t water tight and is damp as a result, and has been all round neglected. It was an award winning building at one point, but it has been left to go to ruin. So it is entirely unacceptable for Partick Housing Association to impose a 7% rent hike on us."
Tenants protesting the wage rise and how it was arrived at were joined by representatives of Living Rent, the national tenants' union.
Jonas Thoreson, treasurer of the Partick branch, said: "It’s going to be absolutely massive, people are already struggling with food bills and energy bills, so rent going up on top of that is going to have a devastating effect.
"We’ve got four demands in two sets.
“One set of demands regards the transparency of the last consultation, which was really untransparent and had very, very few respondents and it’s unclear if the respondents were even Partick Housing tenants because anyone could put their feedback into the survey.
“So we want an independent report into that previous consultation, then the second set of demands regards the next round of consultations.
“We want a hugely improved consultation process, much more engaging, much more democratic, we want them to engage much earlier in the year to give people proper time to engage with it.”
The letter was handed over to staff at the PHA, with a pledge in writing to meet with representatives of the group to discuss their concerns.
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Rosie Hampton, chair of Living Rent Partick said: "With the cancellation of the rent freeze, tenants have been thrown under the bus by the Scottish government.
"The cost of living crisis hasn’t gotten any easier. Bills are still soaring, costs aren’t coming down and any increase in wages is well below inflation - no one can afford any increase to their rent.
"The government has said that the increases in social housing are to allow for repairs and development of the sector. But this is laughable when we know the extent of disrepair and energy failure in social housing. Tenants should not be facing the double whammy of increased rents, disrepair and high bills.
"With these rent increases, the government needs to ensure that social tenants are supported from accruing rent arrears and eviction. They need to raise the eviction threshold for rent arrears and increase the Tenant Hardship Fund."
A spokesperson for Partick Housing Association said: "We understand that many of our customers may be worried about the cost of living and increased rents.
"We work closely with our tenants and do our best to support those who need help or have financial worries. The Association, like others, is also facing financial challenges with increasing costs and has had to make difficult decisions this year.
"Having consulted our tenants, we have balanced the needs of customers to continue delivering key services and investing in homes while keeping our rents affordable.
"Our rent increase this year is lower than the inflation rate.
"From November 2022 to January 2023, we held various engagement events and encouraged our tenants to get involved in our rent consultation. We would encourage any tenants who are worried about their rent to get in touch with us."
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