It's been a financial rollercoaster for a group of Dartmouth tenants who were sent bills for soaring charges but then saw the increase halved.

Tony Warren who lives in the LiveWest complex Crescent Court in Dartmouth, speaking before the reduction said: ‘‘The concern is whether I can afford to pay it. It’s ridiculous.

‘‘It’s gone from £104 a week to £156.19. That’s a big jump.

’’I’ve told them I’m not paying it.

Other residents also voiced their concerns. Sue said: You don’t mind paying things when they’re justified but LiveWest won’t give us a breakdown. They won’t tell us why it’s going up that much. Half the time the hot water doesn’t work and the heating doesn’t work.’’

Gaynor added: ‘‘Everything’s going up but they’re going up too much. Seven weeks we were without hot water. It’s like a doss (house).’’

Finally Steve said: ‘‘I think we’re being ripped off with the amount it’s gone up.

‘‘One of the weekly charges has gone up 326.1 per cent and the other has gone up 145.5 per cent.’’

James Reseigh, Director of Neighbourhoods for LiveWest, said: “The increase in service charges has been driven by the high cost of gas and electricity which rose significantly when suppliers increased their costs last year. We recognise the impact this has had on our customers.“We wrote to customers to advise them of their new rent and service charges in February this year and, at the time, advised them that we were working hard to buy utilities at the lowest rate possible and that if we secured a lower energy price, we would reflect this in a service charge reduction later this year to limit the impact on them.“We are really pleased that we have now been able to secure a lower cost for utilities and we will be passing on this saving to our customers.“We have advised all of our customers at Crescent Court this week of a reduced charge which will take effect from Monday 3 July.“In such a challenging economic environment, we want to do everything we can to help our customers and we have set aside more than £800,000 of grants to support them with their living costs.” 

Chief Executive Officer of South Hams Citizens Advice Janie Moor said: "We welcome LiveWest's action in reducing service charges but they're still significantly above the government's recommendation of a seven percent increase in service charges.

This means that hard pressed tenants are still having to find an additional £15/week (or £800/year) just to keep their heads above water. 

"At these difficult times when household budgets are stretched in all directions, we hope that other housing associations across Devon will also follow LiveWest in making reductions so their charges are more affordable for their tenants."