PEOPLE living in Seymour Court in Burbage are in shock after the housing association which runs the block hiked their weekly payments with only two weeks warning.

Norman Hunt, 69, who has lived with his wife Rosemary in Seymour Court for six years, was surprised to find on their recent invoice that their weekly bills had increased by £27.16, marked as a service charge.

Mr Hunt said: “Rent was supposed to come down by one per cent this year but it didn’t and what else I don’t understand is we are being charged more for heating, even though the heating is electric and there hasn’t been an increase in electricity.

“The added charge states that it is a service charge, but there are no more services on offer. We are getting less and less from Aster because they are cutting back on staff.

"We usually get sent a summary of charges in the autumn and we didn’t receive one this year until about two weeks ago when it was just left on our doorstep. There are 25 people that live in this block and I believe each person has been affected and charged different amounts.”

The residents have been trying to organise a meeting with their landlords so they can get a clear idea of what is going on, but have faced difficulties.

“They said they would hold a meeting but they cancelled it with no reason. The way that the rent has been done is spreading it over five years. You cannot expect pensioners to come up with it. There was a hotline set up to contact Aster but each time anyone called all you could hear was music, there was no answer,” Mr Hunt added.

“For the first time I have asked other residents how much they are paying and each person is being charged differently. We were told by Aster not to compare with other people.

"I am not refusing to pay, I would just like a reason for it. The living spaces that each of us have are not much different in size.

“I asked them how I would pay for this increase and they told me through benefits. But I know that you cannot pay for electricity with benefits, I didn’t think that was even legal. A person moved in last week and they get the debt straight away. We get no answer from Aster, I have booked calls with them, sent emails. I called them once and they said they would call in 48 hours, that was two weeks ago.”

Now a meeting is taking place on Monday, arranged shortly after the head office was contacted by MP Claire Perry.

Celia Piper, 72, of Seymour Court, said: “My charges have gone from £13.09 a week to £29.23, it is ridiculous. When I first rang them up they said that I hadn’t had a service charge increase in years, which is all well and good but I have only lived here for a year and a half. I have emailed asking for a breakdown of the service charges which is a simple thing to request. I should know, I worked in a council office for a number of years. It wasn’t until Claire Perry got involved that Aster decided to organise the meeting.”

A spokesman from Aster said: “We are working closely with customers at Seymour Court and are meeting with them on Monday (4 April) to address their concerns in more detail.”