Rent set to rise for Winchester council tenants (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Rent set to rise for Winchester council tenants

4:46pm Monday 23rd January 2012 in Winchester

Winchester’S council tenants look set to be hit with an increase in rent.

The current average weekly rent is £91.94, which will rise to £98.69, resulting in an overall average increase of 7.34 per cent.

Garage rents will be increased by 5.6 per cent in line with inflation.

A full council meeting, which approved the measure, heard how the council had little choice but to increase rents as it was based on a government rent formula.

Lead member for strategic housing and landlord services. Cllr Tony Coates, said he recognised this was a large increase and would be difficult for people.

But he said that 30 per cent of housing tenants were not paying rents themselves but through benefits, and that the council would provide assistance where necessary.

He added that in a few years they would be able to look at lowering the figures.

The council’s report stated that the council’s ability to agree rents locally is limited, and rent setting remains restricted as a result of debt levels being set by government.

It said that, with the introduction of the Housing Revenue Account Reform from April, the government’s debt calculation for Winchester assumes a rent increase in line with the national formula, and that no provision has been made for councils to set rents at a different level.

Cllr Lucille Thompson (Lib Dem) said she understood it was a national rent policy and they had to go along with it, but this would just be “too much for our tenants to bear”.

Many councillors raised concerns about how the increase would affect residents.