HOUSING chiefs have scrapped a scheme allowing 5,000 Winchester council tenants to take breaks in their rent payments.

Rent-free weeks allow tenants to pay their rent in advance and take a week off four times a year.

The scheme is often used to fund seasonal spending, such as Christmas shopping or summer holidays, but does not mean tenants pay any less over the year.

Winchester city councillors agreed that the scheme is confusing and increasingly irrelevant for tenants as monthly payments grow in popularity.

Rent-free weeks will also become harder to manage when the Government introduces Universal Credit welfare reforms, housing finance chief Bob Gath told the cabinet (housing) committee.

Head of housing services Richard Botham stressed that tenants can arrange to keep rent free weeks by contacting the council’s rent service team.

The committee also agreed to increase social rents by 2.2 per cent from April, in line with inflation and new Government recommendations.

An average weekly rent on a council home will jump from £100.47 to £102.68.