Accommodation cost goes up (From Witney Gazette)

Accommodation cost goes up

9:00am Wednesday 11th October 2006 in Witney By Phil Vinter

THE cost of moving into sheltered accommodation for elderly people in West Oxfordshire could increase by almost £3,000 a year from next April.

Cottsway Housing Association says it needs to put up the amount it is charging tenants to cover current losses of £200,000 a year.

Residents living in 253 homes in the 16 sheltered housing schemes across the district currently pay a flat annual fee of £111.80 to cover communal costs, such as cleaning and grounds maintenance.

This fee is set to rocket to £624 a year for schemes where the cost is shared between a lot of residents, and as much as £1,560 where there are fewer residents.

In addition, the extra amount tenants must pay just to keep their existing level of support staff service will double from £664.56 to £1,300 a year. Cottsway employs 15 community support officers, who visit residents to offer them whatever help they require.

At present, tenants pay on average between £70 and £75 per week in rent. Tenants have been given four cheaper alternative options, in return for a lower level of service - but the cheapest of those options will still mean an increase service charge of £324 (to £988).

Cottsway Housing Association says the cost for existing tenants will be phased in gradually, with the annual increase being no more than six per cent a year.

However, there will be no such phasing for new tenants - after April 1 next year, they will be forced to pay the new fees in full. The company says it is in the process of meeting residents to explain the situation, and give them the opportunity to vote on which level of support service they are prepared to pay for.

It says many of its tenants will not face the burden of the increased costs. because they will be covered by benefits. While some residents the Witney Gazette spoke to said they were not too worried, others raised real concerns.

Doreen Siddall, 74, of St Mary's Court, Witney, said: "I don't really think we have a choice with the options. If we are taken ill, I think we need the level of cover we have at the moment."

Kate Price, 81, who also lives in St Mary's Court added: "They keep saying they are in £200,000 worth of debt, but I think it is because they have made mistakes. They should not be coming back to us, we are the old generation that needs the help and support."

Stuart Edlington, of Cottsway Housing Association, said the decision to increase costs had nothing to do with bad management.

He said: "I don't want to alarm tenants unnecessarily. By phasing an increase in, hopefully that will make it more affordable.

"We are getting votes in from tenants and the majority option will be the way forward.

"For new tenants it is quite a jump and it is possible that some people will not be able to take up places, but this is the first time that we are producing this level of cost detail to tenants.

"I would like to think that working together, landlord and tenant, we can offer a good service."

He said the company was endeavouring to ensure that tenants were getting as much advice as possible on the benefits they are entitled to.