Council rents to rise to support housing ambitions

Council rents in Rotherham will rise by nearly 5% next year to support the building of hundreds of new council homes.

During Rotherham Council's cabinet meeting on Monday, the council reiterated its commitment to build 1,000 council homes by 2027 and approved a new £123m scheme to deliver a further 500 homes by 2037.

Councillors approved the 4.8% increase in weekly social rents and a freeze in district heating charges from April.

Linda Beresford, cabinet member for housing, said: "We want everyone in Rotherham to have a safe, warm home that they can afford."

Shared ownership rents will increase by 5%, garage rents by 10% and service charges such as parking spaces, communal and laundry facilities by 3%.

District heating charges, paid by 1,260 households around the borough, stay at 13.09p per kwh.

Rents could rise by an additional £2 a week if the government allows councils to move rents closer to national "formula rent" levels.

Formula rent is the government's way of calculating rents for social housing in England, based on property value, local earnings and size.

Under these proposals, most council housing tenants will see an average increase in their rents of £6.17 per week, making the average rent £101.

A final decision from the government on rent convergence is expected in January.

Some 19,500 households in Rotherham are council tenancies.

Under its new homes programme, the council pledged to spend £1.33bn in the existing housing stock over the next 30 years.

More than 9,000 properties will be upgraded to make them more energy efficient by 2030.

Next year, the council plans to spend £14m on external works such as replacing roofs, guttering and windows and doors, and £7m on internal works including replacing boilers, kitchens and bathrooms.

Beresford said: "With our investment, plus that coming from the government, more than half of our tenants will see works to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, helping to lower heating bills.

"These are plans that will bring real, tangible benefits to our tenants."

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