Council raises social housing rents by 4.1%

RENTS for council owned housing will rise by 4.1%, an increase that will affect more than 2,500 households in Wokingham borough.

The decision was made at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s ruling executive, held on Thursday, November 25.

The rate is increasing by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which stands at 3.1%, plus 1%.

The CPI is a price barometer which measures inflation. It is closely related to the cost of living and is used by companies to set prices for goods and services.

The amount of the increase will vary across households because there are no flat rates for rents based on the numbers of bedrooms a council house has.

These homes have been divided by what council bank account they fall under. Of these, 2,552 pay into the council’s Housing Revenue Account, and 18 pay into the General Fund.

The policy was introduced by Cllr John Kaiser (Conservative, Barkham), the executive member for finance and housing.

He said: “The tenant and landlord improvement panel have wholeheartedly agreed it. They were consulted on two occasions before and after it was implemented.”

The panel is run by tenants and four councillors and was set up to address issue face in the borough.

Cllr Kaiser added: “We’re very keen to maintain 100% decency with our social homes.

“The reason for the increase is to make sure we can continue to fund the decency of the homes and make sure their kept up to standard.”

The increase follows a decrease of 1% for social housing rents each year for four years, enacted in the Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.

However, this decrease was ended in 2020, allowing councils to increase rents by one per cent plus the CPI, freeze rents or even reduce them.

Also at the meeting, the executive approved to install approximately 36 electric vehicle charging points, with the council borrowing £66,000 to roll out the project.

This spend would pay for 25% of project, with the rest being funded by the Government.

Cllr Laura Blumenthal said: “With 75% of the funding coming from central Government, it is a bargain.”

The executive also formally closed the old Farley Hill site.