BROMSGROVE District Housing Trust (BDHT) has been overcharging some residents for rent for the past six years.
The revelation came when letters were sent to those affected by the bungle.
An Alvechurch resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said they had paid £149.10 per week for rent on their property since 2017 when currently they should be paying £131.
The resident’s rent payments should have been £115.11 in April 2017 and at its lowest point in 2019/20 their rent should have been £112.82.
The letter, received on July 27, refers to the overpayments as an ‘administrative error’ which has affected rent payments from April 1, 2017 until July 23, 2023.
The resident was told the reimbursement amount could be up to £5,688 but no information was given in the letter when the resident would be reimbursed.
The Alvechurch resident said: “I’m furious. I don’t understand how this could have happened – it’s a lot of money to people.
“We’re not talking about a short time of over-payments, this has been happening for six years.
“We have also not been provided with a solution, they have just written to us to tell us about it.”
Abi Holland, director of resources at BDHT said:
“‘Along with a lot of other providers, we commissioned some consultants to do a full compliance check of our rents structures.
“We have reviewed all our customers accounts and in a very small number of cases (less than 60 properties) there has been an overcharge.”
She added the trust had written to all affected customers and would be refunding them, stating the letter set out details of how to get in touch with questions or concerns.
Customers who have not received a letter are unaffected.
“Financial information is sensitive and cannot be released under GDPR.
“Each of the cases has been individually evaluated, and in many cases, we have to work with third parties such as Housing Benefit to finalise the figures,” Abi added.
She apologised and said BDHT was in regular contact with those affected – which amounts to 1.5 per cent of residents – and said refunds would be paid by August 18.
Abi added: “We are ensuring we do everything we can to resolve any issues as soon as possible.”
A letter seen by the Standard only included a general ‘contact us’ email address and the same ‘freephone’ number given on Google.
