For Newham residents like Allmamun Fkir, a nine per cent council tax rise in April will only worsen the housing crisis that has engulfed the east London borough.
The Labour-run local authority has blamed rising homelessness and the soaring costs of temporary accommodation for its decision to implement one of the biggest increases to the levy in England.
Earlier this month the Government gave the council permission to raise council tax by 8.99 per cent – nearly double the cap of 4.99 per cent – to avoid bankruptcy.
But Green and independent councillors have warned that the jump in bills, which is combined with a reduction in discounts for poorer households, will hurt those who are most vulnerable.
Mr Fkir, a 47-year-old waiter, received an eviction notice last month from his landlord, who said he wanted the property back, and is already struggling to afford another place to live.
He currently pays £1,525 a month for a two-bedroom flat that he and his wife share with their three sons.
The only two-bedroom flats being advertised cost upwards of £2,000 a month.
On top of a massive jump in rent, he now faces higher council tax bills. “This is a very big burden for us,” he told The i Paper. “Nine per cent is just too much.”
He is considering leaving Newham as the area has become “very expensive”.
Mr Fkir received an eviction notice last month and is struggling to find an affordable home (Photo: Teri Pengilley / The i Paper)Many residents have found it impossible to find affordable housing without the council’s help.
Newham Council said it has more than 6,500 residents in temporary accommodation – the highest number in London. The local authority said it faces a £157m budget shortfall by 2027/28, with £100m caused by temporary accommodation due to homelessness.
Bilqees Akhtar, 35, said her flat was filled with pests that her landlord refused to address, so she forced him to give her an eviction notice.
“I had to tell him that I cannot find a property on my own because I’m a single parent and ‘I need you to do this so the council can give me a property’,” she said.
Ms Akhar, a customer service leader at a fast-food chain, was evicted by bailiffs and the council gave her emergency accommodation run by a private landlord.
With three children, now aged 10 to 15, she was eligible for a three-bedroom flat but the council put her in a two-bedroom property.
Residents said fly-tipping has increased since the council started charging for collecting bulky items (Photo: Teri Pengilley /The i Paper)“It’s very hard to get rehoused again, or if you’re overcrowded, they tell you to make certain things a bedroom when you cannot,” she said. “For example, a living room – even though it’s classed as a large living room, they call it a bedroom. There’s no sense.”
One of her sons, who sleeps in the living room and kitchen, struggles with constant intrusions but she feels it is her best option.
“I’m helpless – I’m just living in it,” she said. “I’m not happy, but I don’t want to go out of London because my kids’ school is here.”
She said the council tax rise was “concerning” because her living expenses just keep rising. “It’s very hard to adjust,” she said.
Letting agents Masood and Virginia Ahmed said rents have become unaffordable (Photo: Teri Pengilley / The i Paper)Masood Ahmed, 60, and his wife Virginia, 60, run a letting agency in Newham and said renting is becoming a nightmare.
Mr Ahmed said he receives “crying” phone calls from tenants who have had their benefits cut and can no longer afford rent.
At the same time, he is dealing with landlords who are becoming frustrated by tenants who stop paying rent. One tenant has £60,000 in rent arrears over two years, but remains in the property because of long wait times for cases to be heard in court.
“In the beginning I was thinking this business was the best business,” he said. “Now I’m very much fed up. It’s affected my health. I had my heart attack, I had my bypass, I have arthritis, I have many things – only because of the stress of my business.”
Ms Ahmed said three-bedroom flats have climbed to £2,500 and £3,000 a month and that landlords were increasing rents too much. “They are skin-ripping, you could say,” she added.
As we walked along the high street around East Ham tube station, we saw handwritten rent adverts posted in the window of one shop.
Some adverts were for sharing a room with a stranger, while others had restrictions such as vegetarians or non-Muslims only.
Asmaha Saeed, a doctor living in Newham, said inflation continues to make everything more expensive (Photo: Teri Pengilley / The i Paper)Nate Higgins, leader of Newham Council’s Green councillors, said the borough has a high proportion of renters and has been disproportionately affected by landlords exiting the market.
A shortage of council homes means the local authority has to spend a lot of money on temporary accommodation provided by third parties.
To plug the gap, the council has obtained Government permission to raise council tax by 8.99 per cent and sell off assets. The rate for a band D property is currently £1,724.
Mr Higgins said it was “unconscionable” that the council was raising the levy while at the same time cutting council tax support. The poorest residents are eligible for a 90 per cent discount on their council tax, but this will be cut to 80 per cent.
Newham Council has been granted government permission to increase council tax by an exceptional 8.99% from April 2025 to avoid bankruptcy (Photo: Teri Pengilley / The i Paper)“The increase will be felt disproportionately by our poorest residents,” Mr Higgins said.
“It’s not what residents have been being told for years. Like every other Labour council over the last 14 years of Conservative government, they’ve been saying this is all the fault of the Conservatives in government.
“The Conservatives did cut funding significantly, but Labour are in government now, and they’ve done nothing to stop residents from having to feel this massive council tax rise. I just don’t think many residents are going to be able to afford it.”
Services such as Our Newham Money, which provides hardship support, and Our Newham Works, which helps people find jobs, also face cuts.
Resident David Wright believes rich people should pay much more than they currently do (Photo: Teri Pengilley / The i Paper)Council estates in disrepair
Residents we spoke to along the high street raised concerns about the quality of council housing and services.
Newham Council’s social housing provider was found guilty of “serious failings” in a report by the housing regulator in October.
Newham received a C4 rating, the lowest possible grade and the first to be issued to a London borough. Inspectors said there was a backlog of electrical safety inspections which have not been carried out and more than 9,000 fire safety repairs outstanding, including 4,000 whose level is deemed “high risk”.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said she has repeatedly complained about broken communal lights and the overgrown garden on her council estate.
“I’ve had a hole in the loft because I’m on the top floor for about six years now, and the rats come in, and they’re coming through there into my kitchen,” she said.
The 43-year-old said getting hold of council staff was challenging.
“Things just don’t get done unless you chase and chase and chase,” she said. “Unfortunately, I’m a disabled, sick resident, and I don’t have the physical energy to chase them.”
Rubbish dumped at a known fly-tipping hotspot in Newham (Photo: Teri Pengilley /The i Paper)Rubbish ‘everywhere’
Firdous Ali, 49, was among numerous residents who told us their bin collections were sometimes missed.
A few days ago, he spent around an hour and a half on the phone trying to get through to the council after they did not collect his rubbish again.
“When I finally did get someone, they said, ‘oh, sorry, we can’t deal with that – the department’s closed,'” he said. “I put a complaint in. Lucky for me, they must have seen it, and they came and removed the rubbish.
“But the service is diabolical. It wasn’t like this before but over the years it’s just got worse and worse.”
Firdous Ali said his bins are not always emptied each week (Photo: Teri Pengilley / The i Paper)Mr Ali, a computer engineer, said he wanted to see the Government intervene to support Newham council with more funding rather than raise bills for residents.
“What can we do?” he said. “We’ve got to pay for it. But I’m not happy. I’m disabled, and I’m not working now because of medical reasons. So it’s difficult for me to keep up with my kids, family, pay the mortgage and everything. On top of that with water bills going up, gas, electricity, the cost of living, food prices, it’s never-ending.”
Another resident told us she has refused to pay her council tax after her rubbish collection was repeatedly missed, leading to maggots coming out of her bin.
Graffiti on a closed Wilko store. One resident said uncleaned graffiti was a growing problem (Photo: Teri Pengilley / The i Paper)Locals also complained about charges being implemented for collecting bulky items and said it has led to an increase in fly-tipping.
“Rubbish is everywhere,” said Mr Ahmed. “They’re asking for money to take rubbish. Sometimes we used to put it outside – we’d call them and they’d take it. Now we pay.”
Adnan Ghaus, 54, said enforcement for fly-tipping and littering needed to be improved.
Where else is council tax expected to rise?
Windsor and Maidenhead – 25 per cent
Hampshire – 15 per cent
Bradford – 15 per cent
Cheshire East – 9.99 per cent
Birmingham – 9.99 per cent
Slough – 7.99 per cent
“You’ve got people chucking things out of car windows,” he said. “Shops’ rubbish is all outside. They’re supposed to be fined. That rubbish creates rats, mice, the lot.”
Mr Ghaus, a postman, said the council tax rise was “too much” but inevitable. A former Labour voter, he is now too disillusioned to vote for any party.
“It doesn’t matter what you think because nothing gets done with it,” he said. “In other countries, they don’t accept things – they either riot or do things. But in this country, people accept it. They moan about it, but they accept it. That’s why everything seems to go up.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesperson said: “Despite the inheritance we have been left, we are making £69bn available for councils across England to help them drive forward the government’s Plan for Change.
“For Newham Council that means £36.9m is available, alongside a further £4.5m due to the additional council tax flexibility we have given them.
“We understand the pressures councils are facing, which is why we have also committed to the largest-ever investment in homelessness prevention services of almost £1bn for this year, including £24m for Newham to help them tackle and prevent homelessness.
“This government puts taxpayers at the heart of its decisions which is why we have taken a stricter approach to council tax rises, and we expect that taxpayers in Newham will still pay less than the average compared to similar councils.”
Newham’s mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, said: “My priority has always been to support the most vulnerable members of our community while building fairness into everything we do.
“The fourteen years of Conservative-led austerity have left councils like Newham facing chronic underinvestment, forcing us to make tough decisions so we can continue delivering essential frontline services for our people.
“We haven’t taken the decision on Council Tax lightly, and while it remains the lowest in outer London, we also have a support system in place through the Council Tax Reduction scheme, offering up to 90 per cent relief for pensioners and 80 per cent relief for low-income working-age households.
“The reality is, we are steadfastly committed to supporting our most vulnerable residents, transforming Newham for the better, and playing our part in fixing a country broken by the disastrous last Tory government.”
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