Your Rent

The rent you pay covers the cost of providing your home, repairing and maintaining it, and the administration of providing these services along with developing additional homes.

How your rent is calculated
Residents often ask how their rents are calculated, and we are also asked why rents for some properties are sometimes higher than for similar properties in the same area.

The majority of the Society’s residents are on Assured Rents and the following explanation applies to those residents. A small number of residents are on Fair Rents which are assessed by a Fair Rent Officer.

The way in which we calculate your rents was set up by the government back in 2001 and operates under the Housing Corporation.

It was felt that rents throughout the country differed too widely and that this created unfairness. A “national rent” was calculated initially and this was then adjusted to reflect variations in local rents and local housing prices. An adjustment was also made to reflect the number of bedrooms per property.

This figure has then been adjusted each year by inflation plus an additional 0.5%. Normally this means that rents go up each year, but in September 2009, inflation fell and rents fell by 0.9%.

The adjusted rent, as calculated above, is known as the “target rent” and housing associations are expected to be able to meet this target by 2012. Housing associations have a limited discretion to make further adjustments (up to £2 per week) where there is a major difference between the rent actually charged and the target rent.

As regards the situation where different rents apply, this normally arises in the case of a new tenancy. Where there is a new tenancy, the rent which is charged is fixed for one year and cannot be changed. To be fair to all parties, the rent which we charge is the estimated rent for the coming year. In order to do this, we need to estimate the inflation level for the coming year. In 2009, we over-estimated the inflation level and (as mentioned above) inflation actually fell.

Therefore, in 2010 some people found themselves paying more than their neighbours who benefited from the lower rents charged from April 2010. However, this situation should be removed as we reach the agreed target rents in 2012.

If you have queries about the amount of rent which you pay, please contact the office.

How is rent set
The rent is set differently for those residents who have an Assured Tenancy to those who have a Secure Tenancy:-

Secure Tenancy
The rent is set by the Rent Officer. An application to register a rent is carried out every two years. The rent that we apply for may not be agreed by the Rent Officer and they can set the rent either higher or lower. You do have a right to appeal against the rent which is registered.

Assured Tenancy
The rent you pay is based on the value of your home, the number of bedrooms, local and national wages and social housing property prices. Target Rents were initiated by the Government which means both Councils and Housing Associations must achieve a set target rent by 2012.

Service Charges
On top of your rent you may also need to pay service charges. Generally service charges apply to people who live in flats and covers the cost of things like cleaning shared hallways, electricity for lighting hallways and other communal areas. It could also include grass cutting and grounds maintenance of shared areas. Some houses may also benefit from external communal lighting and the maitenance of communal grounds so therefore they will also pay service charges.

The charges are divided equally amongst the properties who benefit from the service.The number of people living in the property will not affect the charges. For example, the cost of cleaning communal areas of a block of flats will be divided between the number of properties in that block. Charges for grass cutting on an estate will be divided between all the properties that use the estate and its facilities.

Residents have the right to inspect accounts, receipts and other supporting evidence in connection with the collection and administration of service charge accounts.

Where appropriate we will make a reasonable charge for this service.

We aim to consult our residents on the quality of service charges where possible.

Assured Tenancy
Service charges are estimated on actual cost used for the previous year. Any shortfall or overpayment of these costs will be carried over to the next accounting period

Secure Tenancy
Those residents that have a Secure Tenancy will have their service charges fixed for two years on the actual cost of service charges used for the previous year.