Renfrewshire council tenants face weekly rent increase

The proposed hike has been outlined in papers prepared for next week’s full council meeting as bosses plan to pump more than £240million into housing over the next five years.

If the plans get the go-ahead, it means the average weekly rent for a two-bed property would rise from £89.59 to £91.38, with an annual bill coming in at £4,752.

Heather Kay, manager of the Star Project, which tackles poverty, has warned the rise could push some people’s finances over the edge, with energy and food prices also climbing rapidly.

She said: “On top of everything else, this proposed rent rise is disappointing.

“It’s not that much on its own but the cost of living is increasing and wages are not and we’ve just been through two years of astronomical hikes of people affected by poverty.

“People who have never really had to access benefits are now finding themselves in a position where they cannot eat or heat their home, so while I appreciate why this is happening and I know the council wants to do a lot with housing, this is not the time for it.”

Interviews were carried out over the phone with tenants, alongside an online survey, and the vast majority were in favour of a rent increase of 2% or more.

Almost half of those surveyed agreed with a 2% rise, a third suggested it should be 2.5% and one in seven said a 3% increase was the best option.

Just one in 14 stated their rent should not go up this year.

Council chiefs plan to inject almost £243m into housing from now until the end of 2026/27, which includes allowances for new-builds.

As part of the consultation, tenants called for further investment in existing housing, more new-build homes and improvements in the energy efficiency of properties.

There are 12,214 council houses across Renfrewshire, with work underway to deliver another 39 in Auchengreoch Road, Johnstone, and 101 across the Tannahill and Ferguslie Park areas of Paisley.

Documents state the proposed rent hike will generate an additional £998,000, which will partially fund proposed increases in expenditure across employees and property costs.

Bosses are planning to increase the cash available for giving void properties a makeover by £300,000 after costs and demand exceeded last year’s budget and an allowance for inflation is set to be added to the repairs and maintenance pot.

Finance chiefs are also having to make allowances for pay inflation and have proposed a temporary increase in staffing resources to speed up work on void properties that suffered setbacks during the pandemic.

A report prepared for the council meeting states: “The rental income generated by the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) must support service delivery, the costs of appropriately maintaining the housing stock and the loan debt-related costs to service the capital investment required in HRA assets.

“The main categories of planned investment programmes are external improvements, which include the renewal of roofs, internal improvements including replacing or upgrading kitchens, bathrooms, wiring and heating systems and multi-storey and sheltered housing improvements.

“Other investment will include disabled adaptations, asbestos removal, rotworks and the delivery of the final stages of investment relating to smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors.”

More than £27m of investment is planned for the coming year, followed by almost £50m next year and more than £60m in 2024/25.

In the next 12 months, 600 homes will get external fabric upgrades, 220 will get replacement kitchens, bathrooms and rewiring and 250 will have their heating system renewed.

Councillors will discuss the proposals and decide whether to approve them at the meeting, which starts at 9.30am on Thursday.