New Forest District Council proposes rent rise of 7% for its social housing tenants
COUNCIL house tenants in the New Forest are facing a proposed rent rise of 7% from April.
The increase was backed by the district council’s Conservative ruling cabinet and will deliver an average weekly payment in 2023/24 of £113.71 – an extra £7.44 a week.
A cabinet report pointed out that without a government cap, however, housing rents could have shot up by 11.1%, based on inflation.
The plans also include another hike of up to 25% from April in energy charges for residents who pay via NFDC, following an identical increase in January.
A report said that was meant to narrow the gap between what tenants paid and actual costs for the council. A review will be undertaken during 2023/24.
There will also be a 7% rise for payments for communal services and 13% for garage rents, bringing weekly fees to £12.09.
The move sparked a debate between the Tories and the Liberal Democrat opposition group, whose leader warned higher costs could make people’s situations harder amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Cllr Malcolm Wade pointed to the cabinet report, and said: “In the paper it says 73% of our tenants at the moment get support and 27% don’t.
“Do we have any data on the financial circumstances of the 27% that don’t? The raise may push them into requiring support.
“And is there any data on the 73% that, at the moment, have support as to whether this is going to make their financial situation worse?
“We are in a major cost-of-living crisis and we’re looking at an impact on people’s livelihoods with these changes.”
Cllr Edward Heron, cabinet member for housing, said tenants would often be dealt with on an individual basis.
He added: “I think the answer is, with the cost-of-living issues, there are undoubtedly people in our district – whether they are council tenants or private tenants – who could be paying more.
“Anybody [struggling] needs to look at our website to see what help is on offer.”
The cabinet report said the tenant involvement group, which represents residents, had made no objections to the rent rise proposals.
It added that NFDC’s housing and homelessness overview and scrutiny panel “recognised the financial pressures the housing revenue account was facing and accepted it was necessary to try to maximise income”.
The housing budget includes £15.2m for buying and building new council homes, as part of NFDC’s aim to deliver 600 new properties from 2018-26.There is also £10.1m for planned maintenance and improvement works.
The changes will now go for final approval by the full council on 27th February.
