UPDATED: Rents to increase by an average of 3%

Tenancy Issues

Updated: 13/02/2011

The Council is currently planning the rent increase for 2011. The Council had originally planned for an average overall increase of 6.6% across the Borough but recently announced revised proposals for an average overall increase of 8.5%. A formal enquiry from WERA has revealed that the average rent increase on World’s End will be 3%.

The increase for two-bedroom properties (the most common on the estate) will be of 3.8%. Those living in one-bedroom properties will be worst affected, with an average increase of 6.6%.

A full breakdown is shown below (rents indicated exclude all service charges):

WERA is glad to see that the average rent increase is below the government's preferred measure of inflation and that the increases appear to reflect the fact that rents on World's End are already higher than average. But WERA remains concerned that many tenants will still find it difficult to make ends meet in the current economic climate. WERA also believes that that the overall borough-wide increase is excessive.

The Council has attempted to justify the proposed rent increase by citing the predicted shortfall in the Housing Revenue Account. WERA believes that the Council could address this shortfall by other means; for example, by drawing down on some of the Council’s reserves of over £160 million. This money has apparently been ''set aside for a rainy day''. If this is not a ''rainy day'' what is?

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