HOUSING Minister Margaret Beckett has halved proposed increases in council housing rents following pressure from a North-East council.

Council tenants across the region had been braced for rent increases of up to 6.2 per cent before yesterday’s announcement.

Councils across the country had been obligated to impose the hikes as the Government sought to bring council rents in line with the higher sums charged by social landlords.

The move angered council officials in the region, including Simon Henig, leader of Durham County Council, who travelled to Bristol to lobby Mrs Beckett over the issue.

Yesterday, the Housing Minister announced that councils would receive support to allow them to cut the proposed increases in half.

Mr Henig welcomed news of the reduction, but admitted he did not think his meeting with Mrs Beckett would yield such a quick response.

He added: “While we were not able to secure immediate changes to Government policy that would soften the blow of the increases, the minister gave us a clear commitment to comprehensively review the whole issue of council house rent restructuring and housing subsidies before we look at our budget for 2010/11.

“However, our comments clearly struck a chord with the minister and the changes have come about a lot faster than we ever thought they would.

“It’s welcome and, while it is a complex job to adjust rent levels twice in a week, we shall do it as quickly as we can and pass on the reduction with as little delay as possible.”

Current legislation requires housing authorities to give tenants four weeks’ notice of any variation in their rent.

In County Durham, it means 19,000 tenants are likely to receive two letters in quick succession, informing them first of the six per cent increase and then news of today’s adjustment.

Glyn Hall, the council’s head of housing, urged tenants to conform fully with rent demands. “If that means they are over-paying for the first few weeks, the revised rent levels will be adjusted to recognized that and no one will end up paying more than they should,” he added.