No rent rise for RSHA tenants
Rent bills for Rural Stirling Housing Association (RSHA) tenants are to be frozen from April this year.
RSHA announced this week that rents will not go up in the financial year 2021/22 due to the hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tenants, said the housing association, have had to deal with “unprecidented upheaval caused by the pandemic”.
The RSHA board stressed they were keen“to relieve the financial pressure which so many people have endured as a result of the health emergency”.
Announcing the decision, chairperson Mark Griffiths said:
“We understand the financial pressures which many tenants are facing.
“We have considered our financial position very carefully and the association’s board of management has agreed to freeze rent levels for 2021-2022.
“We have been able to do this because our financial position is strong, which is the result of a very prudent approach in budget setting and rent increases in previous years.”
RSHA pointed out that it was aware that a number of its tenants worked in the service sector and hospitality industry – both of which had been particularly badly hit by lockdown and other restrictions.
Around 35 per cent of its tenants – not already receiving financial help with housing costs – have indicated they were“facing difficulties”paying their rent as a result of Covid-19.
Mr Griffiths added:“we want to support our tenants and avoid the people we serve from getting into debt at what remains a hugelydifficult time.”
At this time of year all Scottish housing associations set rent levels for the following financial year beginning in April.
Usually rents have to rise across the housing association sector due to increased costs incurred.
Typically these can be in the region of three or four per cent each year but do vary.
RSHA has 628 homes across 18 communities in rural Stirlingshire.