Fred Cobain: "This proposal by the minister is not acceptable"

He claimed it would mean people who had come off benefits to work and were living on the margins of poverty could face a rent increase of between �8 and �10 a week.

Mr Cobain said: "This proposal by the social development minister is not acceptable."

"It mitigates against people living on the margins who have come off the benefits.

"In fact, people living on benefits would be better off under this proposal because at least they would get increased housing benefit.

"However, the people living on the margins, the people who are working, will have to pay the full housing rent. So what kind of message does that send out? You're better off on benefit than if you work."

Mr Cobain also called on Mr Morrow to tighten the regulations on landlords in working class neighbourhoods, suggesting the Housing Executive should police them.

He said: "What we would like to see is the Housing Executive regulating what landlords do and ensuring they maintain property up to a certain standard."

Plans to increase rents

Mr Cobain said they would be confronting the minister when he appeared before the committee at Stormont next week over his plans to increase Housing Executive rents.

He said it was vital that assembly members resisted Mr Morrow's plans to increase the rents with a formula which would raise them by 2% above the gross domestic product.

"Once that formula gets into the system it's going to be hard to stop it," he said.

Also at the press conference, the committee's deputy chairperson, Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew, said the minister's proposals raised questions about his attitudes towards the executive's commitment to target social need.

Mr Cobain and Ms Gildernew were also accompanied at the press conference by the Progressive Unionist Party's, Billy Hutchinson, and the SDLP's Danny O'Connor.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Minister for Social Development, Maurice Morrow, rejected Mr Cobain's claim that Housing Executive rents will increase by 2% above inflation.

Commenting on the claim, the DUP minister said: "As Mr Cobain knows, I have made no decision yet about the appropriate increase in rents in Northern Ireland.

"The rent figure quoted by Mr Cobain is a national planning assumption on which levels of Housing Benefit are based.

"Moreover, I have already indicated that I wish to discuss the level of increase with the Social Development Committee on 21 September. It is, however, my wish that any increase should be kept to a minimum."

Commenting on the level of funding for housing, Mr Morrow said: "In relation to funding, my Department has already secured an additional �5.9m for housing bringing the total available expenditure this year to �607m.

"The extra money has enabled the Housing Executive to re-start their previously suspended kitchen and bathroom replacement programme."