Asking Midlothian tenants for rent increase views 'like turkeys voting for Christmas'

Asking council tenants for their views on a rent increase is like ‘asking a turkey about Christmas dinner’, it has been claimed.

Midlothian councillors were asked to approve plans to consult with current tenants and those on the housing waiting list about proposed annual rent increases of between 4.77% and 5.84% for the next three years.

However, Councillor David Virgo questioned the decision to restrict the survey to council tenants and future tenants, rather than the wider public, during a meeting of Midlothian Council this morning.

He told the meeting: “I see that the Scottish housing regulator recommends we consult council tenants on rent increases, and I understand why, but in my head, you are asking a turkey about Christmas dinner.

“I do not mean any slight, and I am not comparing anyone to turkeys, but it feels like you are asking people who have a very specific interest in what the answer will be.

“I wonder if we should be looking beyond just our council tenants and prospective people about whether council rents should increase or not. I feel all council residents have an interest in this as well, and simply restricting it to the people who would benefit or not from an increase feels to me like a slightly pointless consultation.”

However, the council’s executive director, Kevin Anderson, said he had found in the past that tenants understood the consultation was about what they expected from their housing service, and the response from tenants “usually gets to a middling ground.”

The council currently has 7670 houses along with a waiting list of 6360 applicants all of whom will be invited to take part in the online survey with paper copies available on request.

The rent increases are presented alongside the number of new properties that would be allowed the council to build, in addition to carrying out maintenance work and upgrading the current stock.

A 4.77% increase would allow no new houses to be built, whereas a 5.84% increase would permit 500 new houses to be constructed.

Councillor Stephen Curran requested that a question be added to the survey, inquiring whether tenants who opted for a higher rent to facilitate new home construction would prefer their future housing to be restricted to Midlothian residents or those with a strong connection to the county.

He said: “It is really prompted by a request I have had and I am sure most of us have had with regards to who is being allocated council houses, and I think it is fair to ask that question at this time in the consultation.

“In terms of legalities and what we can actually do in practice would be an issue for our allocations policy, and that is something we can discuss on reflection once we are informed of the consultation result.”

Councillors unanimously agreed to give the officer the go-ahead to launch the rent consultation, along with the added question over allocating housing.