Leicester City Council plans to put the charge up by 1.5 per cent, equating to an average increase of £1.11 a week
Rent is set to increase for people living in council houses in the city despite the pandemic continuing to squeeze the finances of low-income households.
Leicester City Council plans to put the charge up by 1.5 per cent – equating to a £1.11 a week average increase for its tenants.
Housing bosses at the council say that even with the rise, council rents will remain around 50 per cent lower than in the private housing market.
A three-bed council home rents for an average of £88 a week while the average weekly price for private property is £169, according to a council report.
They added that 60 per cent of council tenants will not be affected due to them being in receipt of housing benefit or universal credit.
But some councillors were uneasy about backing the plans even though bosses say it will allow the council to balance its housing budget and commit to further investment in new and current stock.
Director of housing, Chris Burgin, told a meeting of the housing scrutiny commission: We are proposing to only increase core rents by 1.5 per cent and the service charge by 2 per cent. Leicester’s council house rents continue to be extremely low being up to 50 per cent cheaper than private rents in Leicester.
I would also like to remind the commission that the council has been legally bound for the past four years to reduce rent by 1 per cent each year while also having to manage ongoing pressures, he said. This increase will help address a number of budget pressures this year, the main pressures we face include the ongoing right to buy stock loss and rental income loss as a result of that and inflationary pressures.
