Tenants face eviction after rent rockets

The rent on the terraced house has more than trebled

A woman in East Lancashire says she is being forced out of her home after her landlord increased her rent from £69 to £250 a week.

Collette Singleton, 32, a single mother with three children, lives in a terraced house in Rigby Street, Colne.

Her rent was paid through housing benefits administered by Pendle Council.

Housing officials have refused to meet the increased rent.

The council can only be most concerned at landlords attempting to impose rents so much above market level

Philip Mousdale, Pendle Council

Ms Singleton, who is unemployed and on income support, said she was now £2, 400 in arrears.

Ms Singleton said: "I've lived here seven years now and my tenancy agreement was for 10 years.

"Jobs needed doing on the house and I got in touch with environmental health.

"Then I got a letter to say my rent was going up to £250 a week. I had no warning."

'Forced out'

Ms Singleton's father Stanley lives a few doors away and she helps him look after her sister, Hayley, who is mentally handicapped.

She continued: "I'm being forced to move out and find somewhere else.

"I don't want to move. I want to stay near my family."

As managing agents we are required to implement our client's instructions

Mark McKeown, FPD Savills

The council's legal department said that the landlord's increase in rent was unreasonable because it did not reflect the local housing market.

Homes in Rigby Street sell for about £25,000. Ms Singleton's monthly rent bill is now the equivalent of paying off a £150,000 mortgage.

Council solicitor Philip Mousdale said: "Whether the landlord can increase the rent at all and if so to what extent depends on the nature of the tenacy and what is in the tenancy agreement.

"Generally, the council can only be most concerned at landlords attempting to impose rents so much above market levels."

Tenancy agreement

The letter was sent to Ms Singleton by international property consultants, FPD Savills, acting on behalf of her landlords.

FPD Savills spokesman Mark McKeown said: "I confirm that the potential rent increases were clearly set out in clause seven of the tenancy agreement when the tenancy began.

"As managing agents we are required to implement our client's instructions in this respect."

The Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, is looking into the case.