1) Fair Rents: Aftermath
At the beginning of this month most of the country's 5 million council tenants celebrated the 1st birthday of the 1972 'Fair Rents' Act with rent rises of 50p a week. Two million of these tenants could not afford their existing rents and were already taking advantage of the Government's rent rebate system, introduced by the same Act. In Newcastle alone more than half the 39,000 council tenants cannot afford to pay their rent in full.

The numbers of tenants now claiming rent rebates exceed even the wildest Tory predictions of 12 months ago; the better-off council tenant is paying almost as much rent as that for a good home in the private sector; more such council tenants are buying their own homes, placing an extra burden on the rapidly deteriorating mortgage system; the Rent Scrutiny Boards, in their 1st batch of final decisions, have in some cases nearly doubled what the councils themselves have estimated as fair rents - and no-one can discover how or why the boards reached these decisions or even the names of the people who sit on them. As the working class become less and less able to pay their rents, councils are increasingly turning towards providing more expensive, better quality housing for middle class tenants - the Greater London Council already runs an independent high-rent list for converted properties.

An increasing percentage of the wage packet has to be spent on rent, while rent and rate rebates, together with other State benefits, effectively prevent increases in the real wages of low-paid workers, e.g. for every £1 wage increase, £1 may be knocked off the rent rebate. Big wage claims, therefore, fight the Government's policy of depressing real wages.

The development of large ghettos in our cities is becoming a very real danger. With rents continuing to rise, the SS may feel that claimants are living in places "too large" or "too expensive" for them and refuse their rent money unless they move into worse accommodation, with lower 'fair rent'. Increasingly single mothers, immigrants, homeless and 'problem' families are ending up on the older, dilapidated council estates. At the same time, low-earners, claimants and pensioners on these estates stand even less chance of being transferred to better estates, because rents elsewhere are considered above their level.

2) Rents
Last year, with much fanfare, the Government introduced their rent rebate scheme for tenants in unfurnished accommodation. From 28th September rent allowances became available for tenants in furnished accommodation. Needless to say, the new 'handouts' do little to alleviate the housing problems of the thousands of young couples in Britain who find suitable, reasonably priced accommodation almost impossible to find. But if you live in furnished accommodation and have at least one child in full-time education or work training living with you, or if you or your spouse are old age pensioners, then you could quality for a rent allowance - after living in a local authority district for 3 months! If you are single and aged 30 or over, or if you are married with no children and you or your spouse are over 30, or if you, or someone living with you, are chronically sick or disabled, you're still in line for an allowance, but only if you've been living in the district for at least 6 months. If you move from one district to another and you've been receiving an allowance, bear in mind that you'll have to get through the first 3 or 6 months without one.

Local authorities can use their discretion, ignore all these conditions and still grant a rebate if they think you'll "suffer hardship" if they refuse the money, but it's impossible to say yet how liberally this discretion will be exercised.

Meanwhile, rent rebates for council and New Town tenants and allowances for those in private unfurnished accommodation remain on offer, with bigger rebates and allowances available to the disabled. Sample maximum income figures (before tax) of people in furnished accommodation who can still apply for help with their rent are: single - £25, couple - £35, couple / single parent and child - £40. This reckonable income does not include all of a wife's earnings or anything paid for board by lodgers or by family members for their upkeep. 'Couples' do not have to be married. Tenants who receive supplementary benefit are advised by the Government not to apply for rebates but in the north-east local council offices are discovering a lot of flaws in SS information (in many cases you'd be better off with a rebate), so don't let this put you off.

The rent to be assisted by the rebate or allowance does not include rates, heating, furniture or service costs.

If you are moving into unfurnished accommodation being let for the first time, it would probably be to your advantage to ask for a fair rent to be set by the Rent Officer. If you are dissatisfied with his decision, you can appeal to a Rent Assessment Committee for a final ruling. Landlords and tenants can agree on rent and rent increases between themselves without going to a Rent Officer, but these agreements must be in writing and not interfere with the landlord or tenant's right to apply for registration of a fair rent. Once a fair rent has been registered the landlord cannot charge any more than the agreed amount, although he can apply for a rent increase if he has improved the property or after 3 years have passed since the original registration.

Similarly, a landlord of privately rented accommodation can apply for a 12½% rent increase following improvement works to his property. Once this new fair rent has been registered the landlord cannot normally increase the rent to the new figure straight away - instead, the total rent increase is paid by annual increments until the registered rent is reached. (Where the rent is increased by agreement, landlords and tenants are free to agree on their own phasing arrangements.)

A tenant in furnished accommodation can ask the Rent Tribunal to reduce rent which he considers too high and set a fair rent for the property. An increase in the registered rent will only be approved if the landlord has made improvements to the house, furniture or services, or if he can show that his running costs have risen. (More about Rent Tribunals under Eviction.)

3) Rates
If your rent includes rates you can apply to your local council for a rate rebate. Your average gross income, however, has got to be pretty low - £13.50 if you're single, £16.50 for couples with £2.75 allowed for each child. With a full rebate you pay the first £3.75 of your rates and then only 1/3 of the remainder: if the rates are £33.75 the rebate could be up to £20, and so on. Apply between 1st February and 30th April for the April-September rating period and between 1st August and 30th October for the October-March period.

4) Students
With the expansion of higher education and the comparative paucity of State funds to colleges, students are being drawn more and more into the general housing situation. More and more students are forced to look for accommodation outside their colleges, thereby competing with the lower-paid for property to let. Unfortunately, 'competing' is the right word - with no experience, in many cases, of life except from within an educational institution, students tend to be able to afford higher rents and also accept worse conditions (sharing single rooms, no cooking facilities etc), thereby raising prices and lowering standards for other would-be tenants.

This is certainly true of Durham, where rents have risen dramatically in the past few years while the percentage of students living in college has declined. The university's Accommodation Bureau claims it deals only with the city's best landlords, but this is obviously untrue as many students know to their cost. A Durham council official commented: "Most students are paying through the nose for rent". The situation is complicated by rumours of a blacklist system, but it is time students became more aware of their role within the community as a whole and made greater use of Rent Tribunals and health laws, thereby improving rents and conditions for others.

5) Health
If your landlord refuses to repair dampness, defective windows, leaking roofs, defective drainage, defective sanitary fittings, general disrepair, defective doors, leaking conduits and pipes, defective plasterwork or dangerous wiring, complain to your local public health inspector. The inspector, after visiting your house, can threaten court action against your landlord unless the repairs are completed within a certain time.

6) Eviction
It is a criminal offence to evict tenants without a court order or to bully or interfere with a tenant to try and make him/her leave, and this includes cutting off the gas, electricity or water supplies. Notice to quit must be given clearly in writing at least a month in advance. Only when the notice has run out can the landlord seek an eviction order at County Court.

Rent Tribunals can suspend any notice to quit for up to 6 months at a time, and, if necessary, can renew the period of suspension when the previous one expires. The period can, however, be shortened if the tenant does not pay rent, damages property or disturbs other people living in the house following the tribunal's decision. Any notice to quit issued after a tenant has asked the tribunal to fix a reasonable rent will be suspended for 6 months unless the landlord can show good reason for issuing the notice.

The main reason why unfurnished places come up so rarely these days is that it's much harder for a landlord to get tenants out of unfurnished property than it is to throw them out of furnished accommodation. The landlord has to apply to County Court for an 'order for possession' which will only be granted if the rent is overdue, or if the tenant is damaging the building or upsetting other people, or, in some circumstances, if the landlord himself or a member of his family wishes to live in the house. This last point is worth investigating beforehand as all too often a landlord will claim he wants the property for his own use and then, as soon as you're gone, lets it out again.

Both Rent Tribunals and County Courts tend to favour their Establishment companion, the landlord, but even if you lose your case you can gain some small satisfaction by speaking for yourself. Both set-ups are very informal, but your landlord will probably bring along a solicitor, which means the affair will be costing him money.

7) Organisation
The best way of fighting landlords from within the system is by forming a tenants' association. Too often in the past these have been formed specifically to fight rent increases, and they have proved no more successful than any factory struggle fought solely on the question of wage rises. It is vital that the rents and housing issue is not separated off from other areas of class struggle. The most successful tenants' associations have produced news sheets relating their own rent and housing struggles to those of other estates and have also organised social activities to bring the community together and at the same time raise funds to pay for leaflets, coaches for demos, etc. As well as demanding fairer rents, these associations have raised the questions of playspace, conditions, amenities and suchlike. If class prejudices - deliberately encouraged by the Housing Finance Act under which council tenants subsidise private tenants and higher-paid workers the lower-paid - can be overcome, new forms of organisation and initiative will have a chance to develop both on and off estates, while those with greatest industrial bargaining power would use this strength on behalf of those forced by necessity to take the lead in rent struggle - housewives, the low-paid and the unemployed.

8) Alternatives
For anyone unable to afford a mortgage and tired of being caught up in the rent-paying racket there are two alternatives open - squatting and communal living.

Squatting is the most direct method of fighting back against the bad conditions in which millions of people live and the situation in which houses stand empty awaiting 'development' by profit-minded councils, landlords and speculators while thousands of people are homeless. If you want a long-term home, council properties are your best bet - councils are more vulnerable than private landlords in the sense that they're supposed to be housing people rather than chucking them out on the streets. It's worth checking beforehand whether the house you have in mind still offers water, lighting and heating services. Do not damage the building and remember you'll be expected to pay rates. Landlords have to get a court order (specifically naming one or more of the squatters) before they can evict - all other methods, including police 'persuasion', are illegal. Once the order has been granted, you can always move on to the nearest empty house and start the process all over again, and move a new set of people into the original building. The more work you do on the property and the more you involve yourself with the community, the more local support you'll get.

With property prices as they are today, it is unlikely that communal living would provide an immediate escape from the rent trap, but it does offer a better situation for the average tenant. Rent, food, services and furniture etc would be cheaper for the individual if paid for jointly for a group of people, while the household itself would form a strong unit whenever it came to presenting grievances. Communal living also forms a direct rejection of current social values, doing away with the consumer-based nuclear family set-up and experiencing more open relationships with one's fellow human beings.

Addresses: Family Squatting Advisory Service, 44 Nelson Sq, London SE1; 'Squatters Handbook' useful practical info) from 11 Hemingford St, London N1; The Commune Movement, c/o Richard Secombe, 2 Chapel Hill, Ashcott, Nr Bridgwater, Somerset.