FYI - Madeira drive tenant wrote to Cllr Ben Duncan :
“hi ben
can you confirm you get this -and can you speak up for the Beach Huts tenants at Full Council ? The rents were hiked up by 10% 5 years ago on the grounds of need to improve mantainance, comparison with elsewhere ect ...a hike of 25% is "Wednesbury unreasonable": where else in the council budget has such a hike been made?
And we have not seen any "improvements" . The report was very skimpy on facts and comparators and NO consultation “
Cllr Ben Duncan said:
Yes I will speak up for the Beach Huts tenants at Full Council

When I'm not doing council stuff I write for an online news service these days: fignews.info

Can I write a piece quoting you as a beach hut tenant? If so, what would you like to say in the piece?
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FYI (Madeira tenant)
I took a few minutes to see what I could find from other LA re beach hut charges. As the council have used Worthing as an example for comparison - I discovered that in the agreement for Tenants  (who pay close to the proposed increase) have a communal hut with running water & sink & electricity supply & the council maintains the huts . No where in the tenants agreement can I see that they have to paint anything.
In Hastings - various types of huts - the concrete ones each have running water & electricity & are only responsible for interior decor & still pay less that the 50% increase proposed for our huts. The other huts that have rentals ranging:-  £337 - £504 are much more in line with our responsibilities regards painting - I cant find out the situation for water & power set up for those huts.
Arun District Council - the LA huts at Littlehampton are managed by a private company - rents are £783.00.I am waiting for a response from them re facilities.
I think this "comparison with other LA's " is very flimsy given the wide ranging charges in relation to facilities.
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FYI - (i tried to unpack the data but my spreadsheet skills are confined to my bed only...
foi FOI4283 Beach chalet rent rises
https://foi.brighton-hove.gov.uk/requests/4283
further to this request, can you also note that the committee report appendix lacks certain details : viz: in each of the 5 sites = how many chalets are Tenants, Non-Tenants and Fixed terms tenancies? How many vacancies are there? How much extra income will be generated by the proposed increase?
Answer:
Fixed tenancy  Indefinite tenancy  Non residents  Vacant ()
Hove 6 15 1 0 = 22
Madeira Drive 2 18 2 1 = 23
Rottingdean 6 21 3 0 = 30
Ovingdean 1 9 0 0 = 10
Saltdean 1 16 3 0 = 20
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Total all Beach Chalets = 105
fees 14-15 Fees 15-16 Fees 16-17
Net figures (ex VAT) £48,230.00 £60,287.50 £72,344.50
Annual Increased income £12,057 £12,057
Estimated Total £24,114
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Translated into Appendix 3 - Seafront Beach Chalets
£ current rent 2014/2015   =  £ total increase over 2 years inc. 50%:

Indefinite tenancy of  Tenants of Brighton & Hove
15 in Hove 928.86 = 1,393.29 
18 in Madeira Drive 637.55  =   956.33
16 in Saltdean 541.25 = 811.88
21 in Rottingdean 541.25 =  811.88
9 in Ovingdean 604.85 = 907.28
Non-Tenants of Brighton & Hove (I.e. not resident in B&H)
1 in Hove 1114.61 = 1,671.92
2 in Madeira Drive 765.11 = 1,147.67
3 in Saltdean 649.54 = 974.31
3 in Rottingdean 649.54 =  974.31
None in Ovingdean 725.80 = 1,088.70
Tenants Fixed Term Tenancies (I.e. since 2010)
6 in Hove 883.45 = 1,325.18
2 in Madeira Drive 608.59 = 912.89
1 in Saltdean 516.65 = 774.98
6 in Rottingdean 516.65 = 774.98
1 in Ovingdean 577.33 = 866.00
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