Peter Shapcott is sitting in his council flat in Brixton, south London. As he examines the bills that have come out of his bank account, he hovers his computer mouse over a screen showing how much money is left. The 67-year-old, who is terminally ill, has been paying his rent through credit in his account from overpaid water bills. He has £300 left, and now he must fund a steep hike in the service charge.
From April, his weekly payments for rent and communal services such as heating, hot water and maintenance have risen from £153 to £214, leaving him scrabbling to find an extra £61 a week. The spike is being driven by a big increase in energy costs.
Shapcott is one of an estimated 480,000 households nationwide occupying a flat where the heating and hot water come from a central boiler. Many buildings served by one of these heat networks are council tower blocks, which house some of the lowest-income families in the country.
Their energy is bought in advance, so the rise in gas prices last autumn after the invasion of Ukraine is only filtering through to bills this financial year. And the £400 given to every household to cushion the increase last winter is not on the table for next winter.
Shapcott lives in Southwyck House, a Lambeth council block with a communal boiler. The heating charge for his two-bedroom flat is rising from about £11 to £37 a week – a 236% increase. Hot water will go from £3.57 to £12.60 a week. He receives housing benefit, but this doesn’t cover heating and hot water. The rest of the extra money will have to come from his pension.
About 3,500 people in Lambeth-run estates are in the same position. Many are facing service charge increases of between £240 and £300 a month, which is equivalent to about a 350% rise. The Labour-controlled council’s advice to those unable or unwilling to pay, in a letter sent out to residents in March setting out the new charges, was to “end your tenancy”. The council has apologised for the wording.
Shapcott, 67, has a longstanding affection for the area, having lived in his flat for 40 years. He was given a home by Lambeth when he was ill with HIV.
For that reason, the former charity worker does not “like to complain too much” about the council. He says the overall monthly rent is reasonable given the property’s size. But finances are tight and he is helped by a local food pantry.
Shapcott points to his screen: “You can see the credit [in his account] started shooting down when they put the price up … And there we go. When you are on benefits, you are in a precarious position.”
Even going out to get a cup of coffee in a local cafe has become impossible. “You have to think twice about things like that,” he says.
One of Shapcott’s neighbours, living on the ground floor of Southwyck House, who asked not to be named as she used to work for the council, believes the price rises are unaffordable. The 74-year-old gets a pension, which just about covers bills, and has been visiting the food pantry to help with the cost of living.
“The rise monthly is big; some things have almost doubled. On top of that phone bills have gone up,” she says. “We don’t know why service charge has risen by so much. You’re just presented with a massive bill. For someone like me who’s now retired, it’s really difficult. I’ve got a steady pension that only goes up a few pounds.”
Scott Ainslie, a Green party councillor, says many residents are worried. “Everyone anticipated an increase due to cost of living and fuel prices. Residents in the ward budgeted for a 100% or even, in the worst-case scenario, a 200% rise, but 350% is not manageable.
“Lambeth did not prepare people in any way at all and it has shocked them.”
In a statement, Lambeth council said the war in Ukraine had driven global energy prices “to record levels”, adding: “Last year the council’s long-term contracts meant we were able to keep costs low for residents, compared to the huge increases in prices for people with private heating. Unfortunately, these contracts are now over, and costs have increased in line with the bills that most people in the country have faced in the last year.”
It said it has been directing £8m in financial aid to those who need support the most and was adding a further £10m, some of which was being set aside for council tenants.
