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.

Talk to Us About Performance – Online!

If you answered our Tenant Involvement Survey, you’ll be interested to know what we found.

Some of the key messages we got from the survey were:

• tenants were keen to know more about how we spend their rent money and how we perform
• they also wanted us to listen to tenants more and have more online events

So, for the first time, we will hold an online meeting about our performance in the last year. Don’t miss this chance find out more and get involved from the comfort of your own home.

We will explain how we have performed in areas such as

• the time taken to re-let properties,
• rent arrears, and
• the length of time taken to complete repairs.

We will send more information before the meeting so that participants can send in any questions in advance to shape the discussion on the day. Don’t be nervous, you won’t have to speak if you don’t want to, you can type in questions during the meeting or just listen and get back to us with your thoughts and comment later.

If you would like to take part please email cldcarnoustie@angus.gov.uk

Places are limited so best to book early!

We Want to Improve Tenant Involvement in Our Services – Tell Us How

Are you an Angus Council tenant?

We want to make sure that every tenant who wants to be involved in decision-making about the housing service has the opportunity to get involved. Please take our short survey to help improve how we involve tenants in shaping our service.

Celebrating Tenant Achievement at Holyrood

Members of the Tenants Steering Group enjoyed a trip to Holyrood this week, to visit the Scottish Parliament, and to meet with Kevin Stewart, the Minister for Housing.

The group had a sit-down meeting with Kevin, and discussed a number if topics, including the activities the group have been involved in – scrutiny, Rent Setting. HRA and much more.

Members of the group were presented with their Adult Achievement Awards (AAA) by Kevin. These were the first AAAs that Kevin had presented and he explained it was honour to be in a position to present the group with their awards. We would also like to say congratulations to our hard-working Steering Group members!

 

Join ‘The Hub Armchair Group’ and give your views on homelessness and housing options issues

Tayside Fife and Central Housing Options Hub is looking for volunteers for an armchair group. Can you help?

The HUB is part of a national network set up by the Scottish Government in 2010. The main aim of the Hubs has been to support the development of local Housing Options to improve outcomes for people with housing needs.

An armchair group gathers people who are interested in giving their views about the way services are delivered without the need to attend meetings.

The group will be asked for their views on housing options and homelessness issues including service standards, temporary accommodation, priorities for people using services and staff training.

Become a member of the Hub Armchair Group and give your view

on housing options and Homelessness issues in Angus.

 

For more details see the  Armchair Information Leaflet

Angus Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy website launch

We’ve launched our new website for the Angus Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy. Now all the information you need about tenant participation is in one convenient online place. Find out how we developed this strategy and how to get involved by checking it out here.

 

 

 

New Tenant Participation Strategy Launched

The launch of the Angus Tenant & Community Engagement Strategy 2019-2022 took place last week at Arbroath Academy. The new strategy was presented by our tenant representatives and two elected members, Cllr Tommy Stewart and Cllr Lois Speed.

The purposes of the strategy is to improve how we engage with our tenants and communities and to meet outcomes and standards of the Scottish Social Housing Charter

It sets out 6 priorities:

• Establish an E-panel for consultations and information sharing
• Establish a Scrutineers panel
• Promote and advertise tenant participation in the best format for our tenants and review and revise our information regularly
• Give recognition for learning and participation through awards and accreditations
• Develop local area action plans in partnership with our local Community Housing Teams
• Produce a calendar of tenant participation opportunities

The full Strategy document can be found here.

John Morrow, Service Leader – Housing, highlighted the importance of the strategy for Angus. He said:

At a time of great change, it’s more important than ever for tenants to have a voice in shaping our policies. We want to be sure that what we do reflects the things that are important to customers. Whether that means installing new bathrooms, building new council houses, keeping our rents at some of the lowest in Scotland, or making sure that repairs are done right first time, it’s only through listening to tenant views that we really learn what our priorities should be.

This Tenant Engagement strategy sets out how we will encourage a greater level participation, including a broader representation and age range, as we don’t currently have many young people actively participating. So the Strategy sets out a wider range of communication methods, including the Housing Blog and the new e-panel, designed to reach many more people.

I hope that tenants will play a greater role in helping to keep us on track to deliver good services in return for reasonable rents, and help us demonstrate value for money, not just to our customers, but also to the Scottish Housing Regulator as one of the principles of the Scottish Social Housing Charter. I think if we can help make the link better between the big picture issues, and rents and investment, and what really matters for tenants in their home, then we can get more people interested in being involved.

And that is exactly what this Tenant Engagement Strategy is designed to achieve.

 

 

 

Do you live in Arbroath? Then we need your ideas!

Choice for Angus gives local people an opportunity to have a say on how a pot of public money is spent and see the direct results of their decisions. Choice for Angus enables various partners and communities to design and develop ideas and projects together.

Each local area has a pot of £50,000 Council funding to enable partners and communities to develop ideas and projects together. Each Locality Partnership is leading on this work and is testing different ways of doing this.

In Arbroath, the suggestions and ideas must address one or more of the Angus Community Planning Partnership priorities :

•    reducing poverty,
•    improving mental health and wellbeing and
•    improving accessibility.

Tell us your idea!

If you would like to put forward your ideas on these themes then please visit the Social Pinpoint page.

 

Questionnaires are also available in Arbroath Library and Learning shop and Arbroath ACCESS office.

You can  telephone 01241 464628 to request a questionnaire or give your views over the phone, or you can email dicksonm@angus.gov.uk

Project Phases

Phase 1:     Generating ideas – Early to mid November 2019

Phase 2:    19 November 2019 – Building projects event in Arbroath Webster Theatre

All ideas will be presented at an event on 19 November 2019 where groups, organisations and individuals will decide if and how they can take any of the ideas forward to the development stage. If you would like to attend this event, please email dicksonm@angus.gov.uk or phone 01241 464628 to register.

Phase 3:  Finalising project ideas –  December 2019

All those interested in taking forward projects will come together to develop and finalise their proposals.

Phase 4:  Early 2020

Early in the New Year, finalised projects that meet the priorities and selection criteria will be put forward to a public vote.

Hard Work of Tenants and Staff on the Tenant Participation Strategy Recognised at a Celebratory Event in Arbroath

Tenants and staff were thanked for their hard work in preparing the new Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy 2019 – 2022 at an event recently held at Dundee and Angus College in Arbroath. The new strategy will set out the vision and action plan for tenant involvement and engagement for the next three years.

The event was chaired by John Morrow, Housing Service Leader, and Angela Quirie, Housing Policy Officer, gave a presentation detailing how the strategy was developed.

The strategy will be formally launched at an event at a later date.