Leicester council tenants facing rent and gas bill hike

The cabinet will make a decision on the proposals at a meeting in February

Thousands of council house tenants are facing a hike in rent and gas bills of up to £3,000 a year, under new plans.

Leicester City Council is proposing to increase rents by 7% for its 19,000 tenants from April.

Tenants on the council's District Heating Network, which provides gas to 2,500 homes, could also see their annual gas bill triple, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council said it had no choice due to its own rising costs.

Under the proposals, the cost of renting a three-bedroom property would increase from £89.22 a week to £95.47 - an extra £6.25 a week or £325 a year.

Meanwhile, a family living in a similar sized home on the District Heating Network currently pays £951 a year for gas on average, which will rise to £3,141 if plans are given the go-ahead.

February vote

The council has said all increases in rents are necessary as its own costs are rising too due to pay increases for staff, inflation driving up the cost of materials and contractor costs.

The price of gas had increased by 128.9% on average for all homes in the UK in the year leading up to December, said the Office for National Statistics.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby previously warned that if the money being lost was not recuperated in some way, huge cuts would need to be made to the council's housing budget.

However, previous attempts to increase charges for those on the system were stalled as councillors "remained to be convinced there was no alternative".

Councillors will vote on the proposals at a budget meeting in February.