Rotherham council house tenants set for 7% rent hike

Rents in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, are set to increase by £7 a week on average

Rotherham's council house tenants are facing a rent hike of 7% this year, the council said.

The increase will add nearly £7 a week to rent bills, raising the average rent to £91.52 per week.

However, almost 14,500 tenants in the area on benefits and Universal Credit will not be affected.

Rotherham Council said the rise is needed to "fund the quality and energy efficiency" of council homes and provide repairs.

The increased rent will also generate an additional £6.82m, which could fund 960 new kitchens or 1,240 heating systems for council tenants, it added.

For residents in shared ownership homes, rents would increase on average by around £20 per month from £221.18 to £241.97.

The increases are the maximum allowed by the government, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A report to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council's cabinet states that the increase is "consistent with recent decisions made by the council to increase rents by the limit imposed in the government's rent standard".

The council also said in the coming financial year, £4.5m will be spent replacing old central heating systems, £126m will fund 565 new council homes, and £856m will be used to update existing homes, alongside repairs and maintenance costs.

A spokesperson continued: "Whilst it appears a significant increase, it is against a backdrop of significant cost inflation of around 17.8% over the past two years."