ANGRY Aster residents have expressed their “outrage” after the housing association announced plans to increase the rental cost of their garages by more than 60 per cent.

Residents of Tovey Court, Admirals Way, say they are furious that the company has chosen to raise the cost of each garage by more than £375 a year for privately housed tenants.

The residents currently pay £11.24 a week for the space but will now see their rent rise by more than £7 a week, with some saying they will no longer be able to keep their garage due to the enormous rise.

Aster says it is standardising its rent charges rather than covering the cost of the new roof, which is due to be installed in the 14-garage complex next month.

However revolted residents claim that the work is “unnecessary”

and have accused the housing association of “pricing them out” of their garages.

One of those is recently widowed 76-year-old Maureen Brown.

The grandmother-of-four told the Advertiser: “I think it’s absolutely disgusting.

“My husband recently died and all I have is an old age pension – I can’t afford the increase.

“I’ve had that garage for 45 years and now I’ve got to give it up because there is no way I can afford that on my pension.”

The Advertiser reported last year that a group of Aster residents in Andover had complained about leaking roofs and the general poor state of their garages, prompting the housing association to state that they would conduct improvement works.

However of the six Tovey Court residents we met with last week, all claimed that their garages were in good condition and that the work was unnecessary To add to their upset,the miffed residents say they were originally informed by letter that they would not have to cover the cost of the new garage roof.

In a letter attached to their garage doors in March the company stated that “the cost of the work would be met solely by Aster”.

But just two months later each resident received a letter stating that the work would bring the garages up to a “standard condition”

and they would therefore be charged an increased rate of £18.48 a week.

Meanwhile Aster’s own housing association residents, such as 71-year-old Sam Plummer, will have their garage rents rise by 51 per cent, from £9.25 a week to £14 a week.

The retired great-grandfather told the Advertiser: “I shall be keeping my garage because I live in a one-bedroom bungalow and I’ve got to have the space.

“But I think the increase is disgusting and over the top – how can they justify it?

“It will make a big difference to parking too. It’s already crowded at the moment with people using the garages but this will make it much harder to park.”

Sixty-year-old quality control worker David Evans originally contacted the Advertiser with the complaint.

He said: “I think it’s absolutely disgraceful.

“It’s counterproductive as well because we haven’t got enough parking spaces and this unjustifiable increase will drive more cars on to the road.”

Aster has defended its decision to increase the garage rent and maintained that the cost of the improvement work will be covered by the company.

A spokesperson said: “The garages at Tovey Court are due to undergo roof replacements as part of our planned maintenance programme, the cost of which is covered by Aster.

“Our garage rents are being standardised in all locations to ensure we have consistent prices across our entire garage stock.”