Council house rents proposed to go up by 4.8 per cent in South Kesteven

Members of South Kesteven District Council’s cabinet also heard that the authority is planning to increase garage rents by two per cent and raise service charges by 3.8 per cent for council-owned properties.

The Government allows local authorities to increase social housing rents by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) plus one per cent per year. This works out at 4.8 per cent for the next financial year in South Kesteven.

As part of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget proposal, the 4.8 per cent increase would raise the cost of the average weekly rent for a two-bedroom property from £97.17 this year to £101.83 in the next financial year.

This works out at an average of £4.66 extra per week. Two-bedroom properties make up the majority of the district council’s housing stock.

For a three-bedroom property, this proposed rent rise would increase the average weekly rent from £107.02 this year to £112.16 in the next financial year. This represents an average weekly rent increase of £5.14.

At a meeting on Tuesday (February 10), Coun Rhys Baker (Independent – Bourne Austerby) explained that the Government is requiring local authorities to carry out additional measures on its social housing stock – without providing additional funding.

He said: “We have to remember that a number of these enhanced costs are down to new obligations that are laid on us as a result of new standards from the Government.

“They are deciding you now need to put in this standard of housing – that is going to cost more money.

“I have spoken on this platform and a number of others about my frustration from the Government increasing the requirements of any policy and then not giving us the tools to be able to recoup the cost of that policy.”

The Government has recently introduced additional regulations on local authorities in how they manage their council houses.

This includes Awaab’s Law which forces councils to investigate and fix serious damp, mold, and other emergency hazards within strict, legally binding timeframes.

Council leader, Coun Ashley Baxter (Independent – Market Deeping and West Deeping) warned that the authority wouldn’t be able to continue to improve its council houses without additional funding.

He said: “If prices remain as they are at the moment and we carry on spending at the same rate as we do at the moment, then the reserves will be depleted. That’s here in plain black and white figures.

“But we have the choice of keeping our homes to a decent standard or slowing down the expenditure or stopping the expenditure altogether which was the old way of saying if we don’t spend it we won’t have it.”

Cabinet member for housing, Coun Virginia Moran (Independent – Market Deeping and West Deeping) said that the money would be used to improve the standards of its social housing.

She said: “We are coming towards the end of catching up as it were. We are seeing a massive light at the end of the tunnel and I think once we get this new year over with, we’ll be back on an even footing.

“I want our properties to be in the best condition it’s possible to get them to in as short a time as possible.”

A final decision on the HRA budget proposals will be made at a full council meeting on Thursday, February 26.