Bracknell residents anger over housing association's rise in rent

Concerns have been raised over the added living costs introduced for many elderly locals living at Edmonds Court, in Bracknell.

Graham Hill, whose elderly mother-in-law is a resident of the site run by Silva Homes in Bracknell said he was shocked at the unexpected increase.

The family member said Silva Homes, the housing association that manages homes in the court, has unexpectedly added a charge to residents, through a 1.5 per cent rent rise as well as an increase in service charges.

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He said: "Silva Homes have made a decision to exploit money from the very people their meant to be looking after, the old and vulnerable who are mostly living on state pension.

"They have now added Forest Care costs which have been included for 40 years, and charged the residents without consultation - other than a letter dropping through their door.

Edmonds Court, Bracknell.

"I would have thought after 40 years it was more of a policy? They're [Silva Homes'] answer was ‘ I don’t know why my predecessors didn’t charge’."

Housing Association Silva Homes refuted the claims it was benifitting in any way from the price hike, and explained it followed government procedures for informing residents ahead of the changes.

Silva Homes’ executive director of customer relations Dasos Christou said: “As a not-for-profit housing association, all our income goes into maintaining and improving our homes and services.

"Our service charges change every April to reflect the estimated cost of our services for the coming year.

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"We never make a profit from service charges, as they are just a way to cover costs.

"As usual, we wrote to all our customers one month before their service charges changed and provided them with a full breakdown of the costs. This is the government’s recommended procedure.”