The Annual Rent Increase Consultation has now closed
Annual Rent Increase ConsultationEach year Registered Social Landlords are required to consult with their tenants on the rent increase for 2018/19 due to take effect from the 1 April 2018.
You will know from our newsletters and recent tenant events that we hope to propose a partnership with Cairn Housing Association next year. A partnership with this larger, financially stronger housing association will mean we can do more on the things that matter to you, particularly doing more work to your homes faster and making rents more affordable. While this will be good news for our tenants, the partnership will be subject to a tenant ballot and will not be complete until around the summer of next year. We therefore still need to set and apply the rent increase for 2018/19. Our current business plan assumed a rent rise this year based on inflation (measured by the Retail Price Index- RPI at October) plus 1%. RPI at October 2017 was 4%, which means if the Association applied the agreed method of calculating rent increases, rents would increase by 5% at the beginning of April 2018. However, you know that we work hard to keep our rents affordable as we are very conscious of the impact of any rent increases, with benefits and also wages often not rising in line with inflation. In reviewing all that we do to keep costs down, the Management Board have therefore decided this year to consult our tenants on three options for a rent increase from 1 April 2018. Our Management Board have requested that plans be prepared on the basis of the lowest of the three options, i.e. 3.0% being preferred by tenants. This was based on the Board acknowledging the need keep rents as low as we can pending the hope to propose a partnership with Cairn Housing Association next year. We welcome your thoughts on the proposed increase. Your views will be reported back to the Management Board in January 2018 when they make the final decision on the rent increase that will be applied. Please tell us what you think by submitting the online Feedback form. |
Option 1 Increase rents by 3.0%Average rents would go up by £2.25 per week for flats/houses and 19p per week for garages
We appreciate that no increase is ever welcome, but increasing rents by 3.0% would still allow us to deliver the good service you enjoy today and keep rents more affordable. We would be able to carry out our planned programme of improvement works in homes, including replacing windows and doors in Castlepark and Vineburgh, replacing windows in Irvine North and rewiring properties in Irvine and Kilwinning. Additional investment would also be delivered next year through the partnership with Cairn Housing Association subject to a successful vote in the tenant ballot. Option 2 Increase rents by 4.0%Average rents would go up by £3.03 per week for flats/houses and 26p per week for garages (an additional 78p and 7p per week respectively on option 1)
This would allow us to deliver all of our current services and commitments and, in addition, carry out more improvements than planned in homes. These would be based on customers’ priorities. Option 3 Increase rents by 5.0%Average rents would go up by £3.82 per week for flats/houses and 32p per week for garages (an additional £1.57 and 13p per week respectively on option 1)
This would allow us to deliver all of our current services and commitments and, in addition, carry out even more improvements than planned in homes. These would be based on customers’ priorities. |
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