Proposals to raise council housing rents by 4.8%

A local authority in Lincolnshire is proposing to increase council housing rents by 4.8% in the next financial year.

South Kesteven District Council's budget change would see the cost of the average weekly rent for a two-bedroom property rise from £97.17 to £101.83.

Councillors said the hike was necessary because of extra costs as a result of new rules that required them to improve their housing stock.

A final decision on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget will be made at a meeting on 26 February.

The government recently introduced additional regulations which impact how local authorities manage their council houses.

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

Local authorities are allowed to increase social housing rents by the Consumer Prices Index plus 1% per year. This works out at 4.8% for the next financial year in South Kesteven.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, members of the council's cabinet also heard at a meeting last week that the authority plans to increase garage rents by 2% and raise service charges by 3.8% for council-owned properties.

Two-bedroom homes make up the majority of the district council's housing stock, but for an average three bedroom property, the weekly rent would increase from £107.02 to £112.16.

Councillor Rhys Baker told the meeting on Tuesday that the government were expecting them to carry out the improvement work without extra funding.

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

Ashley Baxter, the council's leader warned if prices didn't increase then reserves will be depleted.

"That's here in plain black and white figures", he said.

Cabinet member for housing, Virginia Moran said the money raised would be used to improve the standards of its social housing.

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