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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.
Mid-market rent homes offer affordable housing for those who cannot afford to buy their own home or pay full-market rent, but who want to live in the private-rented sector.
See our new Mid-market rent homes website and find out more details about mid-market rent properties available for rent in Inverkeilor now.
We and our Housing Association partners have 9 properties available for rent now on our Houses for Immediate Let pages:
The closing date for the Rent Increase survey is approaching fast! Tenants have until 30 September to vote for one of the options below:
|
Option 1 Recommended by the Tenant Rent Setting Group |
Option 2 | Option 3 |
| 3.5% | 3.75% |
4% |
Please let us know what you think by clicking one of the options here.
Rent Increase. Have your say!*
Are you an Angus Council tenant? If so, we need your views on the proposed rent increase for 2019/20 and options on how your rent money will be spent.
All three options will keep your rent amongst the lowest in Scotland and well below what the Scottish local authority average for 2019/20 is likely to be.
Why are we proposing to increase the rent?
We need to make sure the rent we receive is enough to pay for improvements needed to tenants’ homes and to help build new homes.
Rent increases will help protect housing services, build new homes and help us to continue to invest in our homes that meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. Rent increases will also allow us to work towards meeting the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing by 2020.
The rent rise is partly based on the inflation measure of CPI (Consumer Price Index), as well as an additional set percentage of 1% which has been agreed between the council and tenant 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 run the business. If we were to increase by more than 1% we could increase investment.
How is the rent increase measured?
Following feedback from tenants during the rent setting consultation last year, we have decided to use the July CPI figure of 2.5% rather than September CPI as used in the past. This allows us to outline true percentages, so that tenants have a clearer idea of how each option will affect their weekly rent charge. The council’s budget setting arrangements need to be in place for October 2018 so that everything is ready for the next financial year which starts in April 2019.
How we decide on the Increase
We’re carrying out a consultation to help tenants consider the rent increase options so they can clearly see how their rent money will be spent.
The results of this survey will be presented at the communities committee in February 2019. At this meeting the final decision on a rent increase for 2019/20 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 – Recommended by the Rent Setting Group | Option 2 | Option 3 | |
| Rent Level |
3.5% |
3.75% |
4% |
| Capital spend (this is money invested to buy or upgrade fixed, physical, non-consumable assets, such as buildings and equipment) | £18 million capital spend over the year | Additional £850,000 capital to spend in addition to Option 1 | Additional £1.7m capital to spend in addition to Option 1 |
| How many new builds? | 70 new homes over the year | 70 new homes – any additional funds will be used to improve existing stock | 70 new homes – any additional funds will be used to improve existing stock |
| What stock improvements can tenants expect? | 450 Gas & Electric Heating installations;
600 properties receiving external wall insulation & energy efficiency measures; 700 bathrooms.
|
In addition to planned improvements listed in Option 1, for example:
39 Gas Heating installation (including loft insulation); 13 Electric Heating installations (including loft insulation); 37 Kitchen Replacements; 58 Bathroom Replacements; 7 External Wall Insulation; 42 Window & Door Replacements. |
In addition to planned improvements listed in Option 1, for example:
78 Gas Heating installation (including loft insulation); 26 Electric Heating installations (including loft insulation); 73 Kitchen Replacements; 117 Bathroom Replacements; 14 External Wall Insulation; 84 Window & Door Replacements. |
The tenant representatives recommend that tenants choose Option 1 (the lowest option), which would mean a rent rise of 3.5%. This option is considered to be the minimum level of income needed to deliver the current Business Plan. It, along with Scottish Government grant funding, would enable us to build 70 new homes in 2019-20, 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 neighboring local authorities (figures from Scottish Housing Regulator). All three options would keep rents affordable, keeping average rents in Angus amongst the lowest in Scotland, and well below what the Scottish local authority average for 2019/20 is likely to be.
How the rent increase of 3.5% would affect average Angus Council weekly rents
| Average weekly rent 2017/18 | Average weekly rent 2018/19 | Average weekly rent 2019/20 | |
| Bedsit |
£51.47 |
£53.52 |
£55.40 |
| 1 Bedroom |
£58.86 |
£61.21 |
£63.36 |
| 2 Bedrooms |
£65.63 |
£68.25 |
£70.64 |
| 3 Bedrooms |
£75.44 |
£78.46 |
£81.21 |
| 4+ bedrooms |
£90.98 |
£94.62 |
£97.93 |
| Angus Average |
£64.64 |
£67.22 |
£69.58 |
To have your say on the rent options,
please complete the survey online by 30th September*.
*Please note this consultation is open to current Angus Council tenants only
See a previous post for more information about House Exchange and how to sign up. This is open to social renting tenants of the Council and Housing Associations.
The mid year report shows that there are lots of people in Angus looking for exchanges – maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones!
We have a number of affordable garages available now for rent throughout Forfar.
Rents are £5.43 a week for council tenants and £6.52 for everyone else.
If you are interested, you will need to complete an application form – to get a form please call 03452 777 778 or visit any ACCESS Office/Library.
Angus Council Housing News 