A councillor with a high proportion of council tenants in his ward said he argued hard for the increase in the rent Swindon Borough Council will ask for to be kept to five per cent and not seven.

Oladapo Ibitoye is the cabinet member for education and skills and is the Conservative member for Penhill and Upper Stratton.

When councils were given the chance to increase rents by three or five or seven per cent, he said: "The Government set the cap at seven per cent but I met with the cabinet member before the rate was set to request that my residents in Penhill and Upper Stratton do not face such an unnecessarily large increase.

“Many people are struggling with high energy and food bills and now is not the time to go to the maximum.

"I dearly wish we could leave the rents at last year’s rate but with the cost of repairs increasing dramatically in line with rising inflation, it is, unfortunately, necessary to cover this rise.  

“The funding provided from rents is of direct benefit to all tenants as it contributes to the maintenance of the housing stock over both the short and long term."