Rent cap consultation for social housing tenants
Money Box
BBC
4.2 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 1 October 2022
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Millions of people living in social housing in England could see increases to their rent capped next year. A consultation has been launched by the Government. If the plans go ahead it would protect 3.8 million households from a rise of potentially more than 10 percent. We'll speak to renters on a housing estate in Cheshire and get reaction from the National Housing Federation and the Local Government Association.
If you're a pensioner you may have heard about extra money you could get to help pay your heating bills. The Winter Fuel Payment is higher this year meaning people who're eligible could get up to £600 depending on their circumstances. To qualify you must have been born on or before a specific date set by the government - which this year is 25th September 1956. We've been contacted by two people who reach pension age this winter but are unhappy because they don't fit that criteria. We'll get a response from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Plus, we'd like to hear from you about your saving habits. Are you managing to save at the moment? Maybe high prices are eating away at your nest egg or perhaps you're unsure what options you have - let us know - we have Anna Bowes, savings champion on hand to help.
And, why trusts need to be registered with HMRC.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Sandra Hardial Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 3rd September, 2022)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation. |
| 0:07.0 | It was an extraordinary news story. |
| 0:09.0 | The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny, |
| 0:14.0 | mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared. |
| 0:18.0 | One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for |
| 0:21.7 | Lucan. It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime. I'm Alex Fontunzelman. This is |
| 0:27.8 | the Lucan Obsession. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello, today in this Moneybox podcast, we'll hear why some older people will be missing out on help with rising bills this winter. |
| 0:44.4 | We'll test our reporter Dan's ability to answer a listener question about trusts in less than a minute. |
| 0:50.1 | And we'll hear how savers can make their money work harder and try to fight back against inflation. |
| 0:56.0 | But first, millions of people living in social housing in England could benefit by having increases to their rent capped next year under a new government consultation. |
| 1:06.0 | If the plans go ahead, it would protect 3.8 million households from what could otherwise |
| 1:11.7 | be a double-digit jump in their rent. Moneybox reporter Dan Whitworth is with me in the studio |
| 1:17.7 | and can explain why, Dan? |
| 1:19.1 | Well, normally, Fliss, housing associations and councils are allowed to increase their rent |
| 1:24.0 | by inflation plus one or two percent on top. Now for most of the last few years |
| 1:28.5 | or so, that's meant pretty small rent increases for people in social housing. But with inflation |
| 1:33.8 | currently standing at more than 10 percent, without a rent cap, millions of people could be |
| 1:39.7 | facing yet another big financial hit in what, of course, is already the worst cost of living crisis in decades. |
| 1:47.0 | Well, I've been speaking to social housing tenants at a play park in Winsford in Cheshire to find out what they think, |
| 1:52.6 | starting with Victoria, who lives in an end of terrace, affordable rented home, |
| 1:57.2 | for which she pays just over £400 a month. |
| 2:00.7 | The fact I live in a large three-bedroomed house at an affordable rate makes it doable |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.