Key workers fear 'social cleansing' from London homes with rent rise

Resident Mary Pimm fears the rent rise will cause "social cleansing"

Dozens of key workers fear they will be forced out of London after discovering their housing association is planning to increase their annual rent by up to 9%.

Peabody rents out homes to key workers at a discounted rate.

It said only some tenants on former Crown Estate homes would see their rent rise by 9%.

Others will see an average increase of 5.4% and some will see no increase at all, a spokesperson said.

This depends on whether their rent has already hit the maximum cap in line with London Living Rent.

Peabody's website said it rents out the homes at 20% to 35% below the market rate in the capital.

The proposed increase of up to 9% for those in former Crown Estate homes, many of which are occupied by key workers, and up to 9.4% for other tenants on intermediate rents, will come into force from 1 April.

It has left many key workers including teachers, paramedics, nurses, and firefighters worried they will not be able to make ends meet.

On 8 February, an emergency meeting was hosted by Peabody resident Mary Pimm, chair of the Victoria Park Community Association, while Tower Hamlets councillor Sirajul Islam and Hackney councillor Clare Joseph were also present to hear concerns from residents.

Residents expressed their concerns at a meeting this month

During the meeting, Peabody tenants raised fears that they were being used as a "cash cow" and that the homes were no longer affordable for key workers and their salaries.

Ms Pimm accused Peabody of "social cleansing" and fears the estates, based in Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Camden, Lewisham, and Millbank, will soon be taken over by wealthier people.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "What's really worrying is key workers are no longer going to be able to afford to live in places like this.

"If [Peabody] go on like this, it's going to lead to a total churn of people on the estate with the poorer folks and certainly key workers and also pensioners having to move out."

In 2011, Peabody bought the four estates, Victoria Park, Cumberland Market, Millbank, and Lee Green from the Crown Estate for £140.8m.

Ms Pimm, who is now a pensioner and has lived with husband Nik in their flat in Hackney since 1976 said living under the Crown Estate was once "very good".

Katherine Angus, a paramedic said she thought Peabody might "protect our communities" but it has "betrayed us by driving up our rent".

Ms Angus is worried that key workers will be driven out of London and will have to travel miles to get to work.

A spokesperson for the Social Housing Action Campaign said: "Peabody tenants are absolutely right to fight these rises. It is a shocking increase in their housing costs and will drive many over a financial cliff edge."

They added: "People cannot bear rent rises of around 9% to 10% each year."

'Balance rising costs'

But Peabody insisted anyone whose rents have already risen will not see the full rise if they have already hit the cap.

A spokesperson for Peabody said: "We appreciate that no rent increase is ever welcome."

"For more than half of residents living on the former Crown Estates, rents will stay the same or increase by an average of 5.4%.

"Like all housing associations, we're having to balance rising costs with a need to continue maintaining existing homes, build more desperately needed homes where we can, and provide essential services."

The spokesperson said Peabody has invested more than £23m in improving homes on all four Crown Estates since 2020.

They added: "Although these homes aren't for social rent, they are decent value for money in these central London locations, at an average of £1,233 per month for a three-bed home."

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