Hoxton tenants to pay personalised rents Published duration 18 August 2015

image caption Tenants in the 100 properties on the New Era estate include several generations of one family

Wealthier tenants on an east London housing estate will pay more than their neighbours in a new rent scheme.

Residents of the New Era estate in Hoxton, Hackney, will be invited to pay new personalised rates from 1 January.

Dolphin Living, which owns the estate, will analyse the financial situation of tenants to establish a rent which will give them a good standard of living.

Chief executive Jon Gooding said the scheme was devised for tenants to "best suit their financial needs".

Residents on the estate earn an average of £31,000 and pay between £145 to £182 in rent per week, which Mr Gooding previously described as being "about 40-45% below the market value".

Those opting in to the personalised scheme will see their rent increase by between £2.50 and £4 a week, taking an average weekly rent to between £147.50 and £186.

'Not sustainable'

Those opting out of the scheme will see their rent increase by inflation plus 4.5 per cent - or £8 to £12 a week for 2016.

In its information pack to residents, Dolphin Living said: "If we calculate that you can afford to pay more rent than you do currently, your rent will increase.

"However, we recognise that a large rent increase would be unfair so we will gradually increase rent... each year until you are paying your personalised rent."

Mr Gooding said the concept was designed to produce a policy that was "demonstrably fair" and ensured no one would be out-priced.

But Richard Blanco of the National Landlords Association said, while it was an "interesting precedent", it could prove divisive.

He said: "I don't think it is [sustainable]. If rent control was brought in, I think a lot of private landlords would just sell up so we'd have a reduced amount of rented properties in the capital."

Dolphin Living said it hoped to introduce the scheme to a further 900 properties by 2020 to help Londoners on low to middle incomes who are "increasingly priced out... but are unable to access social housing".