Changes to Your Rent
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Why are Rents Changing?
Like many other housing associations, we face increasing costs associated with maintaining and improving your homes, as well as delivering essential services. To ensure we can continue to meet these rising costs and invest in the future of our communities, we need to adjust our rental charges.
We increase rents in line with the government's formula, which uses the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%. With CPI at 1.7% in September 2024, this means rents for social and affordable rented homes will increase by 2.7% from April 2025. If you are a leaseholder, your rent will increase in line with the terms of your lease.
What Will This Mean for You?
The extra income from this adjustment will be reinvested directly into your homes and communities. This includes funding for:
- Essential maintenance and repairs: We carry out almost 250 responsive repairs every week, ensuring your homes are safe and well-maintained.
- Planned improvements: We're continuing to invest in upgrades like fire safety enhancements, kitchen and bathroom replacements, and other improvements to modernise our properties. In 2023/24 we spent £6.6m on improving our customers’ homes, including responsive repairs.
- Community investment: We're committed to supporting thriving communities by investing in local initiatives and projects that benefit our residents.
What Happens Next?
You'll receive a letter explaining your new rent and service charges from April. This letter will explain how your new rent has been calculated and provide a breakdown of any service charges you may pay. Please keep this letter safe, as you may need it as evidence of the change if you claim benefits.
Important Information for Benefit Claimants:
If you receive Housing Benefit, you're responsible for informing your local council about the change as soon as you receive your letter. If you receive Universal Credit, you must update your online journal with the new rent and service charge. Please do this on or shortly after the change date, as updates made too early may not be accepted.
How to Manage Your Payments
If you pay your rent by Direct Debit, we'll automatically adjust the amount from April. This will include any existing agreements you have for clearing arrears. If you use any other payment method, you will need to update your payment details yourself. Please allow sufficient time for your bank to process the changes, as some banks require up to 10 working days' notice.
We're Here to Help
We understand that any change to your rent can be concerning. If you're worried about managing your finances, please contact us. Our team can provide advice on budgeting, benefits and affordable repayment arrangements if you're struggling to pay your rent.
You can contact us by calling 0300 304 5000 or emailing us. We’re happy to meet at your home, talk over the phone or email, whatever works best for you. You have helpful information and resources and details on rent and service charges.
We’re committed to supporting our customers and are here to help you through this change.
If you have questions about changes to your rent and service charge, please check out our FAQ’s. Alternatively, contact us using the details above.