A HIKE in weekly rent payments for Oxford’s 8,000 council house tenants could increase the chance of evictions and rising debts, it was feared last night.

The Government, which decides housing rates, is set to recommend an average hike of 6.8 per cent for city tenants from next April.

But it could mean a rise of up to 10 per cent for some Oxford households, which would equate to an extra £25 a month.

The cost of a two-bed flat in a tower block could rise by eight per cent from £72.92 per week now, to £78.64 next year.

Meanwhile, an average four-bed family home could increase by £6.50 a week to £96.76.

The Labour-controlled Oxford City Council is so alarmed by the impact on city estates it has called for the Government to cap the increases. But its plea has so far fallen on deaf ears.

In a letter to Housing Minister Grant Shapps, the council said: “We are concerned a high increase, in these circumstances, will be extremely difficult for our tenants to meet and could lead to financial hardship, increased arrears or even evictions.”

It ends by appealing to the Government to “dampen” rises at a time when its tenants are especially vulnerable due to the recession.

Joe McManners, the council’s executive member for housing, said: “Those on low incomes budget week to week and cannot absorb these significant increases.

“If they are just about making ends meet and they are clobbered with £25 extra a month to pay then it is significant.”

The Town Hall will be left out-of-pocket by the Government, if it does not implement the suggested rent rises.

And a council source told the Oxford Mail setting a lower rent would leave it “bankrupt”.

Council tenant representative Anita Fisher, who lives in The Slade, said increases would hit some families hard.

She said: “There will be some tenants who will struggle. They won’t cope or they won’t cope very well, how can you cope with a 10 per cent rise in anything.”

“It is getting tough for council tenants and we are all feeling it.”

Council tenant Beryl Cooper, who lives in Littlemore with her husband Jim, said: “Our pensions are not going up by that much. The Government should put themselves in our position. It is crazy.”

Rent rise guidelines are calculated using a set formula. Last year, it produced an equally high figure, but the then Labour government capped the rise at 3.1 per cent.

In response to the letter from the council, the Department of Communities and Local Government said: “In recent years the rent increase has been kept artificially, and ministers believe unrealistically, low.”

The Government said it was continuing the policy of bringing council house rents in line with those of housing associations.

It added: “These measures reflect the Government’s aim to achieve a rent system that is fair and sustainable and takes account of the interests of all – social tenants and the general and council taxpayer.”

It said those in greatest need would continue to have rent paid through benefit.