Star date: 13th April 2016

CITY WEST INSTALLS CHEAP ECO ENERGY SYSTEMS – THEN INCREASES CHARGES BY 40%

City West Housing Trust only recently completed installing EcoPods in high rise blocks in Eccles, which the company stated would cut fuel costs by 40%. From this month, however, it has increased charges for heating and hot water by 40% in the blocks, at a time when energy companies are actually reducing charges.

"We don't know why these charges are going up" says Tony Ormonde of the Craunton, Cremer, Ewood Tenants Association "Where is the 40% going?"

Full details here...

In 2011 City West Housing Trust put out press releases about its multi-million pound `revival' of four of its twelve tower blocks in Eccles. Apart from the waffle about using `colours commonly used' by Lowry `such as ivory, black, vermilion, Prussian blue, yellow ochre and flake white' to tart up the `skyline', the company also lauded its use of EcoPods which, it claimed, would cut fuel costs and carbon emissions by more than 40%.

Whether the EcoPods, which use solar and gas energy, actually did this is open to question. However, what isn't open to question is that, from 1st April, City West hiked the charge for heating and hot water, from 7.1pence per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to 10.7pence kWh, a rise of around 40%.

"They sold the eco system on the basis that it was going to be much cheaper but now the supply is going up 40%" says Tony Ormonde of the Craunton, Cremer, Ewood Tenants Association "We don't know why it's going up. Where is the 40% going? Who is it going to? What's it all about? For us it's profit but they are saying it's not profit."

In a letter to tenants, City West states that British Gas is to be the new energy provider for the blocks and "to prepare for this, City West has reviewed how much you are being charged for your heating and hot water to make sure what you pay is fair..."*

This doublespeak has left tenants confused and angry... "Why, when all the energy companies are being ridiculed for the profits they are making and are putting prices down, is City West putting ours up by 40%?" asks Tony "They will not answer phone calls or emails, they haven't said anything to us."

And neither did City West respond to questions from the Salford Star. 

"People will notice that they are putting more money in their meters to get the same energy" Tony adds "There will be loads of people on limited incomes - pensioners, disabled, unemployed - who will notice their money isn't going far.

"One of the people who raised this with me is a carer on limited income who looks after his mum" he adds "Anyone who is at home for the bulk of the day is going to see that meter going around faster and will notice this cost going up straight away."

The 40% hike in heating and hot water costs comes on the back of lots of other new `service charges' imposed by City West since it took over the housing stock from Salford Council...

The first charges were for security which we fought tooth and nail and won" Tony recalls "But then they started on other charges that `needed to be reviewed'. These were for things like the lift, grounds, a caretaker and so on. Things that were previously part of your rent were suddenly `charges'.

"These were implemented over four years and we are now at the peak of those charges" he adds "We now have two increases per year; rent in April and charges in November. Basically they found ways around the rent controls, by increasing charges. But the bottom line with this one is that heating and hot water is going up 40%, when all these energy companies are putting prices down."

Back in 2011, when City West was hyping its new `Lowry-coloured' towerblocks, City West Housing Trust's director of asset management, Colette McKune, said: "It is really important that our properties are not seen simply as bricks and mortar but make people proud of their homes, feel part of the community and inspire them to lead more prosperous lives..."

* In a letter to residents about the cost increase, City West states that "the average household spend for heating and hot water in the North West in 2015 was around £750. Due to work carried out on your block by City West...we estimate that the new rate...will mean an average cost of less than £200 per year for heating and hot water."

This is contentious to say the least. Firstly, why take a North West average which could include all types of large houses as opposed to towerblock flats? And secondly, City West states in the letter that "we know how much energy is used across all flats each year" – so why didn't the company compare that figure rather than the North West average? The Salford Star will re-visit these figures after a year of the new energy charges.

See also previous Salford Star article – City West Charge Increase for Sheltered Housing – click here

Photos by Li Dai

To follow: City West's Allocations Policy Comes Under Fire...