Council housing tenants face 7.7% rent increase

The rent increase was approved on Monday evening

Thousands of council house tenants will see their rent increase by 7.7% from 1 April.

It means most residents in Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) properties will pay between £5 and £8 extra every week for their rent.

Colin Ferguson, leader of Newcastle City Council’s Liberal Democrat opposition, said he held a “serious concern about the potential financial pressure this places on tenants”.

Labour councillor Irim Ali, the council’s cabinet member responsible for housing, said she was “committed” to helping tenants who are struggling with their bills.

Councillor Irim Ali said she was "confident" the impact of the rent rise would be mitigated

The council, which is taking back control of its social housing in the summer, said the increase would generate an extra £8.9m.

The local authority owns almost 25,000 council houses for rent and said the money was needed to build new homes in Newcastle and make “significant long-term investment” in its current stock.

While the council has said that the majority of tenants will see the extra rent costs fully or partially met through their Universal Credit or housing benefit payments, there are an estimated 6,114 who pay their rent from their own incomes.

More price increases

On top of the 7.7% rent hike for council house tenants, garage rents and service charges will also increase by the same amount, the Local Democracy reporting Service said.

Residents whose heating is provided through a communal system managed by the council will also see their tariff increased to the maximum capped rate of 7.83p/kwh.

Labour council leader Nick Kemp said he shared Mr Ferguson’s concern but that the council needed to find ways to balance its budget.

Ms Ali added that she was “as confident as I can be” that the authority would be able to mitigate the impact of the rent rise for struggling residents.

The council and YHN have a policy of not evicting any tenants into homelessness.