“It is one rule for the rich and powerful, and another rule for everybody else."
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hiked the rent of his luxury flat he owns and rents out by 18%, almost twice the rate of inflation at the time, while telling the rest of the country he couldn’t raise wages above inflation.
Tenants who moved into the luxury apartment in Southampton last summer, were charged £300 more a month than previous ones. The revelations were made following a Daily Mirror investigation with campaign group Led By Donkeys, which found that the property was rented out following a bidding war.
The investigation found that previous tenants at the flat were paying £1700 a month but when they moved out in August last year, letting agents put it on the market for £1850 a month, a 9% hike.
The winner of the subsequent bidding war ended up paying more than £2000 a month – with the 18% rise almost twice the rate of inflation at the time. The findings come ahead of Hunt’s Autumn Statement later this week where he is being urged to help families struggling to make ends meet during a cost of living crisis.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “It is one rule for the rich and powerful, and another rule for everybody else.
“The Chancellor has stayed silent while property speculators and landlords have imposed inflation-busting rents. But he and other ministers has repeatedly told workers not to ask for a cost-of-living pay rise, despite many facing soaring housing costs.”
LFF columnist Prem Sikka posted on X: “Rent at luxury flat owned by Jeremy Hunt soared by 18%. Owns many properties, seven flats in Southampton, over £150k rental income, failed to declare all in Register of Interests.
“87 MPs are landlords. Hunt cuts wages/benefits; no curbs on rents.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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