Rent Increase. Have your say!*

Are you an Angus Council tenant?

If so, we need your views on the proposed rent increase for 2021/22 and options on how your rent money will be spent.

All three options would keep your rent amongst the lowest in Scotland.

Why are we proposing to increase the rent?

We need to make sure the money we receive from rent is enough to pay for existing services, including repairs, but also to pay for larger improvements needed for tenants’ homes and to help build new homes.

Rent increases allow us to invest in our homes to continue to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. Rent increases will also allow us to meet the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing.

The rent rise is partly based on the inflation measure of CPI (Consumer Price Index), and in recent years an additional set percentage of 1% had been agreed between us and the Tenant Rent Setting Group. CPI+1% is the minimum rent increase required to allow us to deliver our current plans and manage inflationary rises. We need to increase the rent at least by inflation because that’s what it costs us to deliver existing services. However, following feedback received last year we have considered some alternative options with input from the Tenant Rent Setting Group.

How we decide on the Increase

We’re carrying out a consultation to help tenants consider the rent increase options and clearly see how the rent money will be spent.

The results of this survey will be presented at the Communities Committee in February 2021, where the final decision on a rent increase for 2021/22 will be made.

Rent Increase – the options

The Tenant Rent Setting Group has agreed three options which the members feel will bring benefits to tenants while keeping rents affordable.

The three options are:

	Option 1	Option 2 – Recommended by the Rent Setting Group	Option 3
Rent Level	1.75%	2%	2.25%
Capital spend (this is money invested to buy or upgrade fixed, physical, non-consumable assets, such as buildings and equipment)	Additional borrowing of an estimated £823,000 to maintain capital spend (cumulative position for 4 year period 2021/22 – 2024/25)	£18 million capital spend over the year	Reduced borrowing of an estimated £824,000 to maintain capital spend (cumulative position for 4 year period 2021/22 – 2024/25) which could be used to fund additional stock improvements
How many new builds?	Potential reduction in new build homes	70 new homes over the year	70 new homes – any additional funds will be used to improve existing stock
What stock improvements can tenants expect?	Potential reductions in stock improvements, which could mean delays to completion of the ongoing bathroom replacement programme	450 Gas & Electric Heating installations; 600 properties receiving external wall insulation & energy efficiency measures; 700 bathrooms.	In addition to planned improvements listed in Option 2, for example: 40 Gas Heating installations (including loft insulation); 40 Electric Heating installations (including loft insulation); 34 External Wall Insulations; 33 Window & Door Replacements

The tenant representatives recommend that tenants choose Option 2 which would mean a rent rise of 2%. This option is the minimum rise needed to deliver the current Business Plan without additional borrowing. It, along with Scottish Government grant funding, would enable us to build 70 new homes in 2020-21, as well as these improvements to existing stock: 450 Gas & Electric Heating installations, 600 properties receiving external wall insulation & energy efficiency measures, 700 bathrooms.

The graph below shows the average weekly rents of Angus Council over the past five years compared to other neighbouring local authorities (figures from the Scottish Housing Regulator). Unfortunately, the updated figures for 2019-20 are not yet available.

Angus Council average weekly rents

How the rent increase options would affect average Angus Council weekly rents

To have your say on the rent options,

please complete the survey online by 6 November 2020*.

*Please note this consultation is open to current Angus Council tenants only

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Get Involved in Rent Setting!

We asked tenants in a recent survey:

Would you like to know more about how we spend your rent money?

Would you like to influence how rent levels are spent?

We had a huge response so we are holding our rent setting meeting online this year and our tenants are invited…

The meeting will be friendly and informal and will take place on:

Monday 12^th October

at 6:00pm

Tenants can join in by asking questions or can remain quiet and simply type in questions and comments if they prefer, whatever suits.

To find out more and book a place please contact:

bonij@angus.gov.uk

Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Gas Safety Checks Continue During Coronavirus Outbreak

Since 17 March 2020 we have been following UK and Scottish Government guidance to avoid any unnecessary contact with others. We have also been encouraging residents to stay home and stay safe.

There are exceptions to this guidance and the Health and Safety Executive, has decided that the balance of risk is such, that it remains a legal duty of all landlords to conduct annual safety checks in relation to gas safety. This is because tenants rightly must be protected from the dangers associated with faulty gas services. Therefore we, as a responsible landlord, will be continuing our annual gas services checks.

Naturally, this is causing anxiety for many of our residents, some of whom are ‘shielding’ because of age or pre-existing conditions and we are now experiencing some difficulties in getting access into some homes to carry out annual boiler checks.

We would like our tenants to understand we want to keep our tenants, contractors and our staff as safe as possible from both COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and also from faulty boilers. We are very aware for the need to observe social distancing as far as is possible.

Therefore, when you receive your letter regarding an appointment to allow this essential gas servicing to take place, please contact the relevant Gas Contractor to let them know immediately if:

• You or someone in your household is experiencing Covid-19 symptoms

• You or someone in your household is self-isolating/shielding
  

WRB contact number: 01382 204030 and covers Arbroath, Brechin, Carnoustie, Monifieth & Montrose.

Saltire call centre contact number: 01698 743647 and covers Forfar, Kirriemuir and landward areas.

In these circumstances, we can postpone the boiler check and we will make an appointment for the work to be carried out immediately after your period of self-isolation/shielding ends. If for some reason we are unable to carry out these works, we must record the fact that it is related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

If you do not fall into the two categories above, we would ask you to allow this vital work to be completed. Please be assured that our staff and contractors are following government guidance in relation to hygiene and safety. Only people with no symptoms of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) will be sent out and, when entering homes, they will clean/sanitise hands before and after each job and wipe down all surfaces with anti-bacterial wipes. They will also guide you and your family to assist everyone to maintain a safe distance of two metres.

We do also have protective clothing and equipment to carry out checks and repairs in households where a COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is suspected or confirmed if necessary where an emergency repair is necessary and we would again ask that you mention this when contacting the service.

We are all facing a very challenging situation and by working together we can keep everyone; tenants, staff and contractors safe from both this virus and faulty gas services.

Rent Setting Survey results for 2020/21

Our Rent Setting Survey was carried out earlier this year, where we asked tenants to vote for the level of rent increase they would support for 2020/21. Option 1 (3.1%) received the most votes and this will be proposed to Communities Committee in February 2020. One disappointing feature of this year’s vote was the low response – only 88 tenants. We would hope that in future tenants would appreciate the importance of this survey, since it directly affects the level of rent being paid by Council tenants.

The survey results were as follows:

• Option 1 (3.1%): 61 votes 69.32%
• Option 2 (3.2%): 13 votes 14.77%
• Option 3 (3.3%): 14 votes 15.91%

 

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New Affordable Housing at Newtyle

 

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                                                                 An impression of the new homes to be built in Newtyle.

Work has officially begun on our new housing in Newtyle .The company Bancon Construction has been appointed to build 12 new  homes for affordable rent.

Communities Convener, Cllr Mark Salmond said

This is great news for Newtyle and indeed for Angus. As a council, we pride ourselves in investing in new homes across the whole of our county – in our towns and more rural areas, such as Newtyle. It is vital that we provide families with the opportunity to access high quality affordable accommodation in villages, so they can stay within our smaller communities, ensuring that they are sustained and thrive. Newtyle is well served by a range of local services and is ideally located for people who need or want to work in nearby towns and cities across Tayside. Demand for affordable homes has risen in Newtyle over recent years as pressure on existing housing has increased. We want Angus to be a great place to live, work and visit. Those aspirations are achieved through projects such as this – Creating places that people are proud to call home.

Communities vice-convener, Cllr Tommy Stewart and Provost of Angus, Ronnie Proctor were joined by local elected members as well as members of the community, officers from the Council’s Housing Service and representatives of the contractor Bancon Construction.

Here are some photos from the ground-breaking ceremony.

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Calling All Angus Council Tenants! Please give us your opinion about repairs reporting.

We are trying to make our Repairs service easier for tenants. We’d like to hear from tenants about your individual experience of reporting repairs so we can provide the best possible repairs service.

We’re inviting tenants to have a look at the Home repairs process, to see how it looks.

Please add any comments (use “Leave a Comment” option above) or contact us at HousingTechnical@angus.gov.uk if you would like to to discuss this in greater detail or have a paper copy of the process sent out to you.

Please give us your opinions to help us to improve our services.

Engagement Plans for 2019/20 – How We Will Work with the Scottish Housing Regulator

As part of the changes introduced by the new Regulatory Framework, the Scottish Housing Regulator recently published an annual  engagement plan for every Scottish social landlord.

The purpose of the annual engagement plans is to lay out:

• the information the Regulator wants from the landlord
• what the landlord needs to do
• how the Regulator will engage with the landlord
• why the Regulator is engaging, particularly if the landlord hasn’t met its regulatory requirements
• the Regulator’s member of staff who is the main contact for engaging with the landlord

The Regulator has a strong focus on how the social landlords deliver services for people who are or may become homeless. This is the main point of its engagement with local authorities including our own landlord services.

We need to provide the Regulator with the information related to our homelessness service. You can see full details of our Engagement Plan on the Scottish Housing Regulator website. You can find all Scottish social  landlords’ Engagement Plans here.

 

Meet the Brechin and Montrose Communities Team

Here’s a short film about the work of the Brechin and Montrose Communities Team.

If you want to get involved, the film shows some ways you can.

New Build Housing – A Tenant’s View

In April last year, tenants moved into the new homes at Viewmount in Forfar.

We went to see one of the Viewmount tenants, Nicola Brown, to see how she was getting on, and she kindly gave us her feedback on her new 3-bedroomed home. For Nicola and her family, getting a new council home meant a lot. Here’s what she said:

How are you finding your new house?

I love it, it’s nice and big. I will never move from here. It’s totally fab, in a great location and the neighbours are nice. We have a lovely view of the town.

Our lives are definitely better now than they were when we lived in a 3 bedroom flat in a block.

How long have you been a tenant of the Council?

I have been a tenant with the council for 3 years.

 What does your new house have that your previous house didn’t?

We have space and lots of cupboards here, a private and closed garden, our own driveway and it gives us great privacy. I can shut the living room door and no-one knows we are in. I like the location of the rooms in this house. I really like that we have the living room at the back of the house and the kitchen at the front. I can see my kids playing outside through the kitchen’s window whilst I’m making tea and doing the dishes.

 It’s great to have your own front entry door and we don’t need to use an entry fob anymore.

 The solar panels are great and save us money. There are times when we have only used 72 pence a day on electric even with using all our appliances.

 The number and location of all the cupboards and bi-folding doors are great. They can be locked which means we can keep things in a safe place away from the children. Our kitchen is nice and big enough for 6 people.

 All the bedrooms are a good size which means all the kids have space and we will be able to stay here when the new baby comes.

 All our family and friends that come to visit love the house too.

What’s the best thing (or things) about your new house?

Having my own driveway makes my life much easier. I don’t need to worry about living on a busy street anymore. We use to stay close to the main street and unpacking the shopping was not an easy task while trying to keep the children safe and remembering to lock the car between unpacking my car.

Having 2 bathrooms with showers are is making a make big different in our life. We only had a bath in the previous place so I think it is great that you are building houses with showers in them.

This house is really warm, even in winter time. I hardly have my heating on. Our home it’s very cosy with no draughts.

If the council could only prioritise 3 things in new houses, what 3 things would you suggest?

The cupboard space, a kitchen big enough to fit a table for families and having a shower as well as a bath.

 How long do you think you will stay in your current home?

 Forever, I am never leaving here.

 How do you and your family like living at Viewmount?

We love it, absolutely love it. Kids love the parks here and their school is nearby. There is no main road so it’s good and safe. There’s very little traffic it’s in a cul-de-sac. It’s close to the town centre and everyone is very nice here.

 How has your life changed since you moved to your new house?

It’s totally changed, it’s so much less stressful. We don’t need to worry about much living here. It’s much better for me and for my family. My kids can play outside here safely. I am so glad that we are away from the flat and environment around the block.

We’re delighted that Nicola and her family like her home so much and we hope to be able to do this for even more tenants over the next few years.

Rent Increase Letters Now Out!

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If you are an Angus Council tenant, including garages and garage sites, you should have received your annual rent increase letter by now. All rent increases were agreed at Communities Committee in February 2019.

If you haven’t received your rent notification, please let us know by emailing HousingQPP@angus.gov.uk or call us on ACCESSLine 03452 777 778.