Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Councillors agree below inflation rent rise terms
Councillors have agreed a below inflation rent rise of three per cent for tenants as part of last year’s multi-million pound investment in housing across North Lanarkshire
The proposal was raised as part of a report on the Housing Revenue Account following a joint motion from Councillor Heather Brannan-mcvey (proposer) and Councillor Alan Valentine.
Councillor Brannan-mcvey, convener of housing and regeneration, told the Advertiser: “The approval of last year’s housing revenue budget helps us to continue our significant investment in housing to transform communities across our area.
“This includes building new council houses and overseeing record investment to improve existing homes such as new windows, doors and roofing to enhance energy efficiency while continuing to support our tenants with our highquality repairs and ongoing maintenance programme.
“The rent rise also helps us continue the support we’re offering to tenants through the Universal Credit Assistance Fund for those most in need.”
The move, which means that weekly rents will now average £76.46, was given universal approval by councillors.
Councillor Alan Valentine added: “The budget means that we will continue to see significant investments in existing council housing stock for our current tenants as well as developing much-needed new housing supply for families and individuals to benefit from.”
North Lanarkshire Council’s ambitious investment programme in housing for tenants includes:
Increasing the target for new supply housing from 2150 by 2027 to 5600 by 2035; already completed 847 new-build homes with a further 325 on site; sites have been identified and are various stages of progression for a further 1281 homes; expansion of the buy-back scheme which will allow around 180 homes to be brought back into use each year; the approval, development and ongoing delivery of plans for investment and re-provisioning of the council’s tower properties; and approval of record investment in a five-year mainstream capital programme from 2021/22 to 2025/26 that aims to deliver £354m of investment in housing stock representing a 20 per cent increase from the previous five-year period.
Councillors also agreed to maintain a core contingency reserve representing one per cent of the Housing Revenue Account annual budget (approximately £1.500 million).
The Housing Revenue Account was approved at a meeting of the full council.