Residents living in council-owned homes will pay 4.8% more rent from 8th April, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

Waltham Forest Council will hike rent for its tenants by almost 5%, raising its annual income by £3million.

Residents living in council-owned homes will pay 4.8% more from 8th April, according to a report published this week.

That will mean an average rent increase of £6.41, from £130.73 to £137.14 per week.

Councillor Ahsan Khan, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said: “Rent and service charges are vital to ensure that the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is well funded.

“This money is used to manage and maintain our council housing stock and ensure tenants are living in safe and secure homes. We have a legal duty to ensure rent and service charges are set at levels that ensure the long-term viability of our housing service.”

The HRA is a ring-fenced fund used to look after the homes the council owns.

He added that rents are set in accordance with the Regulator for Social Housing’s published guidance and at a level “similar to most other comparable housing providers”.

The council’s total housing revenue will rise from £83.3m to £86.9m next year. It will cost the council £33.4m to run the housing service, bringing its total income down to £53.5m.

With similar hikes forecast for the next decade, Waltham Forest will be bringing in just shy of £113m by 2036. Net operating costs projected at £49.3m, however, means this will be closer to £63.7m in actuality.

Hiking temporary accommodation rent will help “reduce financial pressure on the council, as a proportion of housing benefit spend for temporary accommodation properties is recoverable from central government,” Cllr Khan continued.

Households on low incomes continue to have their rents met in full through Housing Benefit, he added.

He said: “85% of residents in temporary accommodation are in receipt of housing benefit – the amount they receive will increase to cover the increase.

Those who do not currently receive housing benefit may be eligible if they are on a low income.”

The council has recently approved changes to how it leases the homes it uses for temporary accommodation.

Under a new scheme, the council will rent each unit for ten years and a day, up from the previous rate between three and five years in length.

Councils can only claim back 90% of what they spend on renting such properties if the lease is under a decade. Under the new policy, Waltham Forest will be eligible for a 100% subsidy.

There are 1,700 families currently living in what is supposed to be short-term housing. That is a 90% increase on the 900 families living there in 2022, according to council data published earlier this month.

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