1:00pm Sunday 21st March 2010
By Juliette Astrup
AN elderly tenant has hit out at Poole Housing Association for charging him for heating and lighting of a facility he doesn’t use.
Keith Joynes, 74, who has lived in sheltered housing at Boyd Road for nine years, has branded the new services charges, which begin next month, as “unfair.”
He, and other tenants, are now facing a bill for £1.48 a week for a common room and laundry whether they use it or not – including some of his housebound neighbours.
“There’s quite a few like that on the road. Some of them can’t even get out of the house never mind use the centre, which they are still being charged for,” he said.
“Some of them don’t know how they’re going to pay it when they’re on a basic pension.”
He added: “It’s definitely unfair. An extra £6 a month for nothing.”
Poole Housing Partnership (PHP) has come under fire for its rent and service charging review – which changed the way residents paid for heating and lighting in communal areas, adding hundreds to some residents’ bills.
Joe Logan, CEO of PHP, said sheltered housing communal facilities such as common rooms with kitchens were “used by most residents on a regular basis,” and had heating and lighting which “has to be paid for.”
He added: “We have carried out a consultation across the town and the consensus was that the fairest way of recovering the charges is to charge the sheltered residents according to the facilities that are available to them “The charges have been kept to a minimum and are equal to the bills we receive from the energy suppliers.”
He said they were working with residents to ensure energy was not wasted and installing solar panels to reduce the bills and carbon emissions.
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