Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director of Adult Social Care, Housing and Public Health

Recommendations:-

That the Cabinet note the content of the report and recommends to Council:-

1.          That dwelling rents are increased by 1.5% in 2021/22 (Option 1) in line with the Government policy on rents for social housing which allows rents to increase by Consumer Price Index (as at September) plus 1%.

2.          That shared ownership rents are increased by 1.6% in 2021/22 (Option 1) in line with the Government policy on rents for social housing which allows rents to increase by Retail Price Index (as at September) plus 0.5%.

3.          That there is a 2% increase (Option 2) in charges for garages and parking spaces, communal facilities, cooking gas and use of laundry facilities, in line with the Council’s policy on fees and charges.

4.          That the unit charge per Kwh for District Heating Schemes remains the same level as agreed by the Council in December 2017.

5.          To agree the draft Housing Revenue Account budget for 2021/22.

Consideration was given to a report that sought approval for the proposed values of the housing rents, non-dwelling rents, District Heating and service charges and the draft Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2021/22. Attached to the report at Appendices 1 and 2 were the Initial Equality Screening Assessment form Part A and Part B. Appendix 3 was the draft Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2021/22.

From April 2016, social landlords had been required to reduce their rents by 1% each year for four years, 2019/20 being the final year. It was now for Cabinet to decide which option to choose for 2021/22. A number of options were set out in section 3 of the report. Housing rents option 1 had been recommended for approval and would mean an increase of 1.5% on rent for social housing. This was an increase by CPI plus 1% which was in line with Government guidance. Option 1 would result in an average rent increase of £1.12 per week from £74.21 to £75.22.

Non-dwelling rents option 2 had been recommended for approval. That would result in an increase on non-dwelling charges of 2% for 2021/22 in line with the recommended increase being applied across the Council. There were no proposed increases for the District Hearing scheme.

The Cabinet Member for Housing explained that the increases to housing rents would allow for the maximum amount of funding to support ongoing maintenance and management services for Council dwellings. The Leader explained that a substantial number of social renters would not have to pay all of the increase and that a minority of social renters would not have to pay any of the increase as this would be covered by the housing benefit they received.

The report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-decision scrutiny process and the Board supported the recommendations.

Resolved:-

That the Cabinet note the content of the report and recommend to Council: -

(1)  That dwelling rents are increased by 1.5% in 2021/22 (Option 1) in line with the Government policy on rents for social housing which allows rents to increase by Consumer Price Index (CPI) (as at September) plus 1%;

(2)  That shared ownership rents are increased by 1.6% in 2021/22 (Option 1) in line with the Government policy on rents for social housing which allows rents to increase by Retail Price Index (RPI) (as at September) plus 0.5%;

(3)  That there is a 2% increase (Option 2) in charges for garages and parking spaces, communal facilities, cooking gas and use of laundry facilities, in line with the Council’s policy on fees and charges;

(4)  That the unit charge per Kwh for District Heating Schemes remains the same level as agreed by the Council in December 2017.

(5)   That the draft Housing Revenue Account budget for 2021/22 be approved.