MORE than 135,000 tenants across the region have been hit by a 5.5 per cent rent hike – because they live in the wrong type of rented home.

The families will pay an average £4-a-week more because they live in housing association properties – in contrast to council tenants, whose rise will be under £2- a-week.

The discrepancy follows the Government’s decision to cap council rent increases, but not those of the growing majority of tenants of other social landlords.

To add insult to injury, housing association tenants already pay significantly higher rents than their counterparts in traditional council homes – an average of £69.95 last year, compared with £61.63.

Now Housing Minister Margaret Beckett has been accused of a cynical attempt to “grab headlines”

when she pledged £175m to help tenants through “challenging economic times”.

The announcement, made in March, failed to mention that housing association tenants would be excluded from the help on offer.

Yet many authorities – including Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Sunderland, Teesdale, Hambleton, Ryedale and Scarborough – have no council tenants at all.

The largest number of housing association homes are in Sunderland (34,477), Middlesbrough (15,557), Redcar and Cleveland (12,390), Hartlepool (9,705) and Derwentside (7,814).

Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman, who uncovered the figures, warned the rent hikes would be the “last straw” that would tip many families into poverty.

She added: “Millions of social tenants have been abandoned by this Government.

“There is no reason why housing association tenants are able to afford this rise any more than council tenants. It’s simply yet another case of the Government’s eagerness to grab headlines instead of helping millions of families.”

But the Department for Communities and Local Government hit back, insisting it was the responsibility of each housing association to set “affordable and fair” rents.

A spokesman added: “Registered social landlords are independent and have a different business model to councils that enables them to raise finance in a different way.”

In total, 2.1 million housing association tenants in Britain will be excluded from the help package, while 1.8million council house tenants will benefit.

A 5.5 per cent increase on £69.95 is £3.80, but that average housing association rent figure is for March last year, which means there has already been an increase since then.

Therefore, this year’s weekly rise is likely to be at least £4, while the increase for council tenants was capped at 3.1 per cent as a result of Mrs Beckett’s announcement.