But despite the huge increase to his monthly rent payments his wages failed to keep up - they have only gone up by £2500 during the same time period, he said.

That wage increase just covers his rising rent but inflation since 2007 has seen his income slip as power bills, food costs and clothing all surge in price.

The City of Edinburgh Council care worker has hit out at Dunedin Canmore Housing Association, which owns his flat.

READ MORE: Housing crisis pushing Edinburgh locals 'out of the city we've lived all our lives'

Carroll told The National that the jump in rent payments is becoming "ridiculous".

Carroll said: “The system isn’t run fairly. I know people have applied for houses and are still waiting 10 years on.

“And for tenants, we see a continuous rise in rent charges but our services are getting poorer and poorer.

"It's about time those rent increases stopped. I can remember 15 years ago my rent was about £210 and now it’s £454. It’s ridiculous."

Carroll said his wages have failed to keep up with his growing rent, forcing him to cut back elsewhere.

“People are asking why is this going up every year?" he said.

"We’re not getting anything for it. As much as they can say they are building more properties, that’s not much good to me as a tenant because I’m not looking for anywhere else. I just want where I stay to be looked after.”

Carroll is supportive of the recent announcement by the Scottish Government that rents across Scotland will be frozen for a year and that there will be a moratorium on evictions this winter.

Ronnie Carroll said the rise in his rent is becoming too much (Image: PA)

“That’s going to be helpful for lots of people. No one should be asked to leave their house,” he said.

The social care worker supports wants more action, voicing his support for rent controls: “I think you should only pay for what you get.”

The rent increases come at a time when everything else is rising, and Carroll's wallet is feeling the squeeze.

”The last two years I’ve really, really had to cut back. If the winter is bad this year I am going to have to be really careful with what rooms I’m going to heat up,” he said.

Among the measures Carroll is considering taking is moving his bed into his living room in order to be able to heat at least one room.

Despite his soaring living costs, Carroll is one of the lucky ones. He lives in social housing which is markedly cheaper than renting privately – and it’s something he is all too aware of.

“It would be absolutely impossible for me to afford private rent in Edinburgh. I have two friends. One stays in Leith, and another stays in the Haymarket area.

“They’re at the stage that they’re talking about getting other people in to share their rent or they’re going to have to move out and go further afield where it’s cheaper to get rented accommodation.

“And they’re paying about three or four times the amount I’m paying. They just can’t do it. The prices are rising here even where I am so there’s no way I could do it [without social housing].”

Professor of Urban Studies Glen Bramley said Caroll’s rent had gone far above inflation.

Professor Glen Bramley said some social housing tenants across Scotalnd are facing higher than inflation rent rises (Image: Heriot Watt University)

The Heriot-Watt University academic told The National: “It’s well over the average of social housing association rents in Scotland, although they vary quite a lot generally.

“And this is a period where earnings have really started to slow and almost halt. There’s been very little growth in real average earnings in the last 10 years.

“It is questionable the amount of which social rent has gone up. Scotland’s social housing seems to have gone up more than England’s and it seems to have gone up more than inflation.

“It is true that they rely on that rise to fund new build programmes but I think the idea of having retail price index [a measure of inflation] plus 1% was not unreasonable when earnings rose by 2% above inflation but that’s stopped happening in the last decade so it’s no longer reasonable if we’re thinking about renting something somebody in a normal job could just about afford without housing benefit.”

READ MORE: Eye-watering house prices see first-time buyers priced out of housing market

A Dunedin Canmore spokesperson said: “We do everything we can to keep rents as low as possible. Rent levels are based on the services tenants tell us they want and what improvements they’d like to see in their home and neighbourhoods.

“Last year we built 61 new homes, invested £5m in existing homes and helped 60 tenants into work and training. We also helped 838 tenants claim almost £1.7 million in benefits and tax credits they were entitled to.

“Our rents are in line with other Scottish housing associations and our management costs are among the lowest in the sector.

“Any tenant who is having difficulty paying their rent should get in touch. We have a range of wraparound support services available to support tenants through the cost-of-living crisis.”