Rent Increase

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Bison559
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Aug 2022 08 19:45

Rent Increase

Hi everyone hope your all well, I've been caretaking for years and really enjoy the work but the wages have always been poor, i take home just over £1000 a month and this year had a 1% pay increase which worked out at just over £25 a month.
my rent has increased by 7% which equates to more than £30 a month so no increase for me as its all gone in rent.
i challenged the increase and asked for an explanation as to why I'm paying rent at all just to give them a bit of work to do
i received no response and my rent didn't go up until now and they have taken back rent from me of £80

i have sent them this email - Hope your well
I am perturbed that the rent increase which I haven’t agreed with and you haven’t answered my questions has been put on my payslip for August and also backdated for 3 months which again I did not agree to and thought that you could not take money from my wages without my approval??
I want all the questions I asked answered
1. Why am I paying rent at all, I live in the house for the benefit of the job
2. Why has the increase been so much when my pay rise was only 1% which in extra money is less than the rent increase
3. Why has it been backdated and money has been taken from my wages without me agreeing to it.
4. How do I appeal against the increase
5. Must be more

with everything increasing except my wages I may have to leave the job I love and go back to lorry driving which pays the bills but I fell out of love with when they started to treat you like
can anyone advise me please
Cheers
Bison
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Drone
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Aug 2022 08 23:28

Re: Rent Increase

If this is a deduction from your wages without notice, you may have a case for illegal deductions. I suggest you re-check all your paperwork & if this really is right out of the blue, you consult your union or take other legal advice.
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Eddy
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Aug 2022 09 12:41

Re: Rent Increase

Bison559 wrote: 8th Aug 2022 at 7:45pm Hi everyone hope your all well, I've been caretaking for years and really enjoy the work but the wages have always been poor, i take home just over £1000 a month and this year had a 1% pay increase which worked out at just over £25 a month.
my rent has increased by 7% which equates to more than £30 a month so no increase for me as its all gone in rent.
i challenged the increase and asked for an explanation as to why I'm paying rent at all just to give them a bit of work to do
i received no response and my rent didn't go up until now and they have taken back rent from me of £80

i have sent them this email - Hope your well
I am perturbed that the rent increase which I haven’t agreed with and you haven’t answered my questions has been put on my payslip for August and also backdated for 3 months which again I did not agree to and thought that you could not take money from my wages without my approval??
I want all the questions I asked answered
1. Why am I paying rent at all, I live in the house for the benefit of the job
2. Why has the increase been so much when my pay rise was only 1% which in extra money is less than the rent increase
3. Why has it been backdated and money has been taken from my wages without me agreeing to it.
4. How do I appeal against the increase
5. Must be more

with everything increasing except my wages I may have to leave the job I love and go back to lorry driving which pays the bills but I fell out of love with when they started to treat you like
can anyone advise me please
Cheers
Bison
Your contract will give you the details of any rental increases that are levied andf how they should be implemented.
Most resident caretaker with "service" tenancies, that i know of, have rental taken as a percentage of the salary. (in my neck of the woods, it is around 7%)

Depending on when the 1% was added to your wage, there may have been a delay in applying the extra to your rent, hence the claw back.

I am also guessing that you are on some kind of part time/ term time only contract as taking home £1000 on a full time contract is under MNW
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Bison559
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Aug 2022 09 18:43

Re: Rent Increase

thanks for the replies
I am full time and get paid £11.25 hour
i earn £1800 and have £700 in deductions rent(£300), NI, Tax, etc
if it was 7% would it only be £126???

i really thinking of leaving as with energy going up to £300 a month , fuel at £150, car insurance £50 etc etc i will have nothing to live on
any help would be appreciated
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magpie
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Aug 2022 09 22:45

Re: Rent Increase

If you are in a council run school then check whether your local council signed up to Single Status which was something that the unions agreed to, much to my annoyance. In Northumberland it happened in 2011, before that i lived rent free but after that was implemented i and also Jay had to start paying rent, it was still subsidised to a small degree but from paying nothing monthly i ended up paying £210 which rose a couple of times over the years. The reasoning behind it was that no worker was supposed to get any benefit more than any other worker, they told me that the lady who ran the kitchen could then ask for a house to be provided free if i was getting it free, ridiculous i know but that was the reasoning behind Single Status, the council also brought in 5 out of 7 day working, obviously not applicable for caretakers but for all other council workers it was and still is implemented . When we became an Academy the rent was still taken but i know the council raised the rent a couple of times more and my Academy didn't as the council never informed them. When i retired last year i was paying £300 per month but as soon as i retired the Academy started charging me £600 as they said that is what i would pay privately for a house that size, luckily after 2 months i had bought my own house and moved.
It is just a thought but this could be the reason behind you having to pay more rent and are paying rent in the first place. I do however agree that you should have been informed beforehand and discussed it with your employer.
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Keyolder
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Aug 2022 10 09:46

Re: Rent Increase

magpie wrote: 9th Aug 2022 at 10:45pm If you are in a council run school then check whether your local council signed up to Single Status which was something that the unions agreed to, much to my annoyance. In Northumberland it happened in 2011, before that i lived rent free but after that was implemented i and also Jay had to start paying rent, it was still subsidised to a small degree but from paying nothing monthly i ended up paying £210 which rose a couple of times over the years.
Single Status also hit us around 2012, from paying no rent at all to subsidised rent in one much resented move. Having a low basic pay meant they had to subsidise the rent as full rent would have wiped out more than half of my salary. Their next clever move was to then cut all overtime pay replacing it with time off in lieu. The bean counters had a field day with our livelihood which resulted in many resignations, which in hindsight was probably their motivation all along.
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tykeman
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Aug 2022 12 16:50

Re: Rent Increase

I lived in a house attached to a rural primary school, the rent when I started was £500 per calendar month plus all the bills. We knew what we were getting into, when we took on the job. At this school my wife did the cleaning and I did 3.5 hrs caretaking and as you can guess, these earnings did not pay the rent. 12 years later the rent went up to £625 per calendar month at which point we handed our notice in. Several people took on the caretaking and cleaning duties, but would never live in the house and several of these people just walked out of the job with no notice given. Fast forward 7 years and the house has been let out privately, to provide an income to the school. None of the tenants have stopped long and the latest one is paying £1075 per calendar month. Food for thought [JawDropped.png] [Gobsmacked.png]
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Handyman
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Aug 2022 15 08:44

Re: Rent Increase

I live on site and haven't heard anything about a rent increase for me, although communication at the LA is so poor I probably would only find out from noticing on a payslip. There is one guy in my LA who was (and might still be) letting out his spare bedrooms to some Polish students, lucrative but risky I guess, it is definitely not allowed in our tenancy agreement. I've started claiming overtime for a lot of things to try and boost my income a little, they are not entirely happy about it, but for example they keep sending me on school trips in my spare time and if TAs can get overtime for coming in our their days off to go on them then why should I go for free?

7% on £1800 is indeed £126 but the amount varies a lot in different authorities, I can't really complain but I pay nearly twice as much per month as people in the neighbouring LA.
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Skoolkeeper
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Aug 2022 16 21:09

Re: Rent Increase

As a Resident Caretaker in Suffolk, the rent I paid was 7% of my basic wage, the rent was increased by 1% each year (April) I had a local agreement with Suffolk county council, as I worked for a Local authority school, When the school went over to a Academy Trust there was no change in my monthly rent, but also no yearly increase! I said nothing as my working practices were changing for the worst! this led to grievances on both sides and my accommodation was looked into as well as many other things! the word I remember that was used a lot was peppercorn rent! After a long battle with the Academy trust management team, I lost my Job and home around 3 years ago, offered a settlement, took early retirement (60) and within 3 months I was/am living in Spain. so my friend use your words wisely and know what you want. Good luck my friend. [Cool.png]
rigsby
Oct 2022 08 08:01

Re: Rent Increase

I think any form of rent for a caretaker is disgusting as you are there to look after the school during and out of school hours. Me personally I work in the private sector and don't pay any rent or bills and rightfully so as I'm always on duty when I'm not meant to be. They basically want their cake and eat it, yes can you look after the school do alarm call outs at 3 am and chase intruders off site, but your going to have to pay for the privilege. Seriously taking the mick.
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