Seven per cent rent hike for Rotherham Council tenants

The increase would add an average of £6.54 per week to bills, raising the rent to an average of £91.52 – the maximum allowed by the government.

For residents in shared ownership homes, rents would increase on average by £20.79 per month from £221.18 to £241.97.

Rotherham Council says this will generate an additional £6.82 million over last year, which could fund 960 new kitchens or 1,240 heating systems for tenants.

The increase is needed to fund the “quality and energy efficiency” of council homes, and provide repairs, it says.

In the coming financial year, £4.5 million will be spent replacing old central heating systems, £126 million will fund 565 new council homes, and £856 million will be used to update existing homes, alongside repairs and maintenance costs.

There are 14,447 tenancies in receipt of housing benefit or universal credit, which will not be affected by the rent increase.

A report to RMBC’s cabinet says of the rent rise: “Whilst it appears a significant increase, it is against a backdrop of significant cost inflation of around 17.8 per cent over the past two years.”

It also mentions the council’s efforts to achieve its target of being net zero on carbon by 2030. The bill for this was estimated last year to cost at least £585 million, which RMBC admits is “unaffordable”.

The report to cabinet adds: “As a result, this means that attracting external funding to progress net zero commitments becomes even more significant.”