Council housing rent increase to follow national guidelines

Shropshire Council’s housing tenants are likely to see their rents rise by an average of £5.34 a week as the council follows national guidelines to increase rents from April 2012.
 
The proposed increase of 7.9% is in line with the Government’s recommended formula rent, which has been used as the method to set and increase council house rents since 2002.
 
Councillors say it’s necessary to increase rent to avoid a shortfall in the overall budget in the next financial year.
 
The proposal has been discussed with the tenants working group, and letters will be sent to all tenants if the increase is given the go-ahead.
 
A report will go to Shropshire Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday 8 February 2012 asking councillors to agree the increase.  That decision will then need to be approved by full council later in February.
 
Councillor Malcolm Price, Cabinet member responsible for housing, said:

“It’s with a heavy heart that we are proposing this increase, but all rental income is invested back into the service and it’s essential we have enough money coming in to balance the books.  We have to follow the national guidance because the Government only provide a certain proportion of our funding and determine how much is generated from rent; if we don’t increase the rent by 7.9% we will have a gap in funding which would ultimately impact on the quality of our housing services.”