Pensioners to pay £111 more a year to live in sheltered housing

Vulnerable residents consulted on the changes say they fear “full rent payers are always the ones hit hardest” and also raised concerns about the cost of living rising faster than their income.

The changes will directly affect only those living in Barnsley Council’s 697 sheltered homes who do not receive housing benefit, and will see them paying more than £100 a year extra by 2014.

There are 21 sheltered housing schemes in Barnsley - 12 of which are “fully sheltered” and nine which consist of homes clustered around communal facilities such as lounges and bathrooms.

Under the current scheme, some charges for communal facilities - such as for electricity and cleaning - are not charged separately to tenants living in sheltered housing and are instead “pooled” so that they are paid for through the rents of all council tenants.

As a result, some tenants are currently paying for services they do not benefit from.

Now, however, a new charging system has been drawn up and is set to be agreed by the council’s cabinet committee next Wednesday, October 26.

The system involves taking the costs for sheltered housing schemes out of the “general rent pool” and instead recharging it “directly to the tenants who benefit”, through a separate service charge.

A single service charge covering heating, electricity, cleaning, water, laundry and furniture will be introduced for sheltered housing tenants, starting at £8.97 a week.

The effects of this change will not be seen straight away, as the rent is being lowered by that same £8.97 a week in the 2011/12 financial year.

However, in 2012/13 there will be an overall rise of 80p a week, or £38 a year, if the new arrangements are agreed.

By the 2014/15 financial year, residents in sheltered housing will be paying £111 extra a year compared to the current system.

Although Barnsley Council considered introducing a scheme-by-scheme service charge, it was decided that this would be “more difficult and time consuming” and “additional resources would be required.”

The report set to go before next week’s meeting admits that the changes could result in “those tenants not in receipt of housing benefit experiencing financial difficulties.”

Although 70 per cent of people in sheltered housing in Barnsley will see the increased costs offset by housing benefit, 30 per cent will not.

The report adds: “The full effect of the change of policy, in terms of recovering these costs, will not be felt for some time as the increase will be phased in.

“The rent increase, including the cost of the service charges, will be limited to £2.17 a week.

“Staff will also be providing help and advice to tenants on income maximisation and budget management.”

The report goes on to add that the higher charges for sheltered housing schemes could lead to fewer people wanting to live there.

It says: “It is possible that these increased costs may have a detrimental impact on the levels of demand for this type of accommodation, particularly from tenants who will not qualify for housing benefit.”

A consultation on the proposed changes was carried out by Berneslai Homes with its tenants.

All those living in sheltered housing were written to last month, asking for their views and inviting them to attend a series of presentations taking place the following week.

A total of 79 people attended those sessions and raised a variety of concerns, such as that smaller centres are cheaper to run and those who live there should be paying less.