COUNCIL tenants are facing an average weekly rent increase of two per cent in the coming year.
The proposed move forms part of plans to inject almost £75million into existing and new-build council homes over the next three years.
A consultation was carried out between December and January with tenants, which involved an online and telephone survey plus discussion with tenant representatives at the annual Council Wide Forum.
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Council documents prepared ahead of Monday’s budget meeting suggest the majority of tenants who took part agreed with the planned increase, with 70 per cent of respondents saying they would like new-build council housing to be a long-term priority.
Almost two-thirds of respondents said they would like to see higher levels of investment in existing housing and improvements in environmental standards such as bin stores and communal areas.
The estimated housing stock for this year is 11,777, which includes new-builds in Johnstone Castle and Bishopton.
Just over £24million of investment is planned for housing this coming year, followed by almost £30million next year and more than £21million in 2022/23.
If plans are rubber-stamped, a total of £51.03million over the next three years will go towards existing homes with works planned for external and internal enhancements.
There are also plans to upgrade multi-storey flats and sheltered housing and roll-out new standards relating to smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms.
Other investments include launderettes, disable adaptations, asbestos removal and rotworks.
A budget has also been set aside for funding a new Safety Compliance Officer to reflect an increased focus on fire safety following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017.
Documents prepared for the meeting state: “The rental income generated by the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) must support service delivery, the costs of appropriately maintaining the housing stock and the financing costs to service the investment required in HRA assets.
“The repairs budget has been increased by £174,000 to reflect the increase in stock numbers as a result of the additional new build units.
“A provision of £1.5million was made in 2019/20 as part of a planned programme of works to meet the Scottish Government’s new standard relating to smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms.
“These new regulations come into force in February 2021 and therefore a further provision of £1,5million has been made in the 2020/21 capital programme to complete all the relevant works by February 2021.
“Since achieving compliance with the Scottish Housing Quality Standard in April 2015, there has been an ongoing requirement to ensure our housing stock continues to be maintained at this standard.”
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It is proposed almost 440 homes will receive external upgrades this coming year, while 200 will receive kitchen, bathroom and rewiring replacement and 250 will get heating renewals.
Two new-build projects will be completed by May 2020 at Johnstone Castle (95 homes) and Bishopton (80 new homes) and work is expected to start at two other sites later this year in Ferguslie Park in Paisley (101 homes) and South West Johnstone (39 homes).
Further new-build sites are planned at Gallowhill (60 homes) and Foxbar (around 40 homes) – both in Paisley.
The proposals will be presented at a special meeting of the full council on Monday.
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