Issue - items at meetings - Housing Rents 2014/15

To consider the joint report of the Assistant Director Finance and Assistant Director Housing.

Scrutiny Committee – Community considered the report at its meeting on 14 January 2013 and its comments will be reported.

Agreed

(1) rents of Council dwellings are increased by an average of 6% from 1 April 2014 which includes a general inflationary increase of 3.7% together with the phased introduction of the Government’s rent restructuring proposals;

(2) service charges are increased by 3.7% with the exception of those charges set out below:-

(a) 3.2% increase in respect of cleaning communal areas in line with anticipated rises in cleaning contract costs;

(b) 0% increase in respect of communal electricity at Weirfield House;

(c) 0% increase in respect of water at Magdalen Gardens; and

(d) the restructuring of charges in respect of communal gas at Sheltered Sites to reflect the number of properties per site and ensure an equitable apportionment of costs to better reflect consumption. No inflationary increase was proposed; and

(3) garage rents are increased by 3.7%.

Reason for Decision:

As set out in the report.

The joint report of the Assistant Director Finance and Assistant Director Housing was submitted, recommending a rent and service charge increase from 1 April 2014 for Council dwellings and garages.

The Assistant Director Housing advised that the proposal was for an average increase in rents of Council Houses of 6%, service charge increases of 3.7% (with the exception of those charges as set out in 5.3 of the report) and a garage rent increase of 3.7%. The average rent for a two bed council property after the proposed increase would be £71.50 per week compared with £96 per week for a two bed housing association property and £167.00 per week for a two bed private rented property. This showed that Council rents remained very competitive.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Customer Access clarified that the increase was necessary to facilitate rent convergence. The funds would be used for maintenance and investment in the current stock and the building and purchasing of new stock.

Scrutiny Committee – Community considered the report at its meeting on 14 January 2014 and the comments of the Members were noted.

RESOLVED that:-

(1) rents of Council dwellings are increased by an average of 6% from 1 April 2014 which includes a general inflationary increase of 3.7% together with the phased introduction of the Government’s rent restructuring proposals;

(2) service charges are increased by 3.7% with the exception of those charges set out below:-

(a) 3.2% increase in respect of cleaning communal areas in line with anticipated rises in cleaning contract costs;

(b) 0% increase in respect of communal electricity at Weirfield House;

(c) 0% increase in respect of water at Magdalen Gardens; and

(d) the restructuring of charges in respect of communal gas at Sheltered Sites to reflect the number of properties per site and ensure an equitable apportionment of costs to better reflect consumption. No inflationary increase was proposed; and

(3) garage rents are increased by 3.7%.

To consider the joint report of the Assistant Director Treasury and the Assistant Director Housing.

The Assistant Director Housing presented the report recommending a rent increase for council dwellings from 1 April 2014.

An increase was proposed reflecting a general inflationary increase of 3.7% together with a convergence factor to reflect the number of years to rental convergence.

In order to achieve the Government’s social rent reform, it would be necessary to implement an increase of 3.7% (RPI + 0.5%) with up to an extra £2 per week to facilitate convergence. For 2014-15, this would result in an average increase of 6% which equated to £4.09 per week over 52 weeks.

The Assistant Director acknowledged the importance of effectively communicating the increase and agreed that the opportunity should be taken to emphasize that the increase was necessary and reasonable and that tenants received very good value.

Scrutiny Committee - Community noted the report and recommended Executive to:-

(1) approve a rent increase for Council dwellings by an average of 6% from 1 April 2013 which includes a general inflationary increase of 3.7% together with the phased introduction of the Government’s rent restructuring proposals;

(2) approve a service charge increase of 3.7% with the exception of those charges set out below:-

(a) 3.2% increase in respect of cleaning communal areas in line with anticipated rises in cleaning contract costs;

(b) 0% increase in respect of communal electricity at Weirfield House;

(c) 0% increase in respect of water at Magdalen Gardens; and

(d) the restructuring of charges in respect of communal gas at Sheltered Sites to reflect the number of properties per site and ensure an equitable apportionment of costs to better reflect consumption. No inflationary increase was proposed; and

(3) an increase in garage rents of 3.7%.

Issue - meetings

Housing Rents 2014/15

Meeting: 21/01/2014 - Executive (Item 4)

Meeting: 14/01/2014 - Scrutiny Committee - Community (Item 7)