A ROMSEY man has described the 'disgraceful' rise in rent at his sheltered accommodation.

Peter Penrose, 84, lives at Wakeford Court in Cressey Road, which is run by Aster Group, and his rent, as well as all the rent of all the other residents, will be increasing on April 4, when it will go up by more than £18 a week.

Mr Penrose said: “These increases have been rising for the previous three years yet nothing has been done to stop a supposedly charitable company from such tyranny.

“Aster Group charges us tenants a personal charge and refuses to explain what exactly they are. We pay utility charges also and have no way of knowing how many units of gas, water and electricity we are paying for because Aster refuse point blank to share proof of contracts."

Mr Penrose, who has lived at Wakeford Court since 2008, said he felt the rent increases have not been justified.

He said: “At this precise time my rent is £133.58 per week and it is rising again on April 4 to the disgraceful sum of £151.32 per week."

An Aster Group spokesman said the rent was rising in line with current rates of inflation.

He said: “We understand that it’s a challenging time for people as the cost of living continues to rise, and we’ll always offer support to customers who are concerned about the impact this may have on them.

“We’ve contacted customers about their annual rent increase and where it’s needed, we’ll signpost them to help available. This includes setting up payment schedules, sharing free budgeting tools and providing access to our dedicated financial wellbeing team which help customers manage their household budgets.

“From April 4, along with most other housing associations, we’ll be applying the governments rent standard formula of Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus one per cent. The CPI figure reflects the general increase in prices (inflation) that we all see day to day.

“The increase this year will be 4.1 per cent. The calculation uses the CPI figure from September every year, plus one per cent. The CPI figure was 3.1 per cent in September. We invest the money we receive from this rent into improving and maintaining our existing homes and providing a range of services to our customers."

They also said that service charges are going up because of national increases in energy prices.

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