Local Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed a last-minute government u-turn over plans to saddle council tenants with huge increases in rental costs.

Under growing pressure from local authorities, Housing Minister Margaret Beckett has announced that councils will now be allowed to cut their planned rent increases for tenants. Waltham Forest council tenants were facing a rent rise of 5.8% due to government guidelines.

“These rent rises (are) a cowardly act that put politics before people.”

Local Lib Dem Leader Cllr John Macklin has welcomed the government climb-down, but warned that the affair highlighted the government’s lack of understanding of the impact of the economic crisis.

Cllr Macklin said:

“This announcement, whilst perhaps not completely unexpected, will come as a relief to some of our most vulnerable residents, who were being asked to bear the brunt of these rent rises.

“However this announcement should be no cause for political celebration. This whole embarrassing u-turn by Labour has just served to demonstrate once again how completely out of touch the government is with the practical realities of this economic crisis. Asking local authorities to do their dirty work for them by implementing these rent rises was a cowardly act that put politics before people.

“I am pleased that the government have finally backed down on this issue but disappointed that, once again, it has been left to local authorities to try and make them see sense.”

Liberal Democrat MPs led parliamentary opposition to the government plan, as reported here by your local Lib Dem team.