Pembroke House: Leading Wiltshire councillor slams Stonewater for rent

Residents of Pembroke House, in Fisherton Street, told the Journal of their growing concern about massively increased living costs.

Many residents feared they would have to move out and find somewhere cheaper, while others felt the risk of homelessness looming over them.

Affordable housing provider Stonewater owns the retirement home said it would work with customers and not be making anyone homeless.

Read more: Pembroke House residents fear future as costs rise by over £4k

At consultation on Tuesday, March 21, residents crowded around a laptop and desperately tried to ask Stonewater questions about their future.

They were told that there would be a six-month review of the prices.

Councillor Richard Clewer, leader of Wiltshire Council, has called upon Stonewater to reconsider its decision and described Pembroke House as "unaffordable affordable housing".

He said: "I would like them to absorb the cost for now and whenever they renegotiate the price to then review the impact of it and work out whether it’s reasonable to be passing on or not.

"They also need to be retrofitting Pembroke House as a priority to reduce the heating costs inside that building."

Cllr Clewer believes what Stonewater is doing is "not reasonable" but understands, in purely logical terms, where the company is coming from.

Legally the company is putting up rents by appropriate amounts and following the criteria for affordable housing.

This is because retirement schemes have been excluded from the government’s rent cap and residents don't qualify for the same help with energy costs as domestic customers.

Imagine you’re retired in housing with a fixed income, how on earth are you ever going to find that kind of money? (Image: Wiltshire Council)

Cllr Clewer added: "When you look at it in terms of the impact on residents and the social responsibility that providers of that kind are supposed to carry it just doesn’t sit right."

Stonewater made an operating surplus of £24m for the year 2021/22, half of what it made the previous year.

Director of housing operations David Lockerman, at Stonewater, said every penny of the surplus is re-invested into maintaining homes and building new ones.

He said: “Councillor Clewer’s suggestion that we should subsidise retirement living customers by moving money (which is for the benefit of the many, to support the few) is, of course, something we considered.

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“However, for us to subsidise one group of customers and treat others (for example, those in general rented homes) differently would not be right or fair. As a social housing provider, all of our customers are on low incomes and the cost-of-living crisis is affecting everyone.

"‘Robbing Peter to pay Paul’ is not a sustainable solution and we continue to call on government, at both local and national levels, to do more to help those struggling."

While Wiltshire Council is not responsible for regulating affordable housing providers, if Cllr Clewer did have that power he would regulate them "a lot more tightly".

“You just can’t give £5000 of debt to people like that, it’s pointless and you’re not going to get it back. It’s stress for no reality," he added.