Angus council house tenants are set to feel the impact of an inflation-busting rise to their weekly rent.
If councillors approve an official recommendation, the rent for a local authority home will jump by 4.8% taking the average weekly rate to just 10p short of £50.
Angus officials say the proposal has been brought forward with support for the planned level of increase from a majority of Angus tenants and the council is confident local rents will remain among the lowest in Scotland.
The 2011/12 rents will be determined by a special meeting of the authority’s neighbourhood services committee in Forfar on Tuesday two days before the most challenging budget in the history of the current council is delivered against a background of severe financial pressure and possible cuts to jobs and services.
Councillors will be presented with three options, all representing increases above the December 2010 inflation rate of 3.73%.
The increases ranging from 4.4% to the suggested 4.8% hike have, officials say, been calculated around a Retail Price Index benchmark of 4.6% from September last year.
Neighbourhood services director Ron Ashton said a no-increase option was considered, but such a move would leave a near £1 million financial black hole which would require a call on other balances or result in modernisation programme reductions.PraiseHe said the 4.8% rise would allow the planned upgrade programme for Angus’s 7778 council houses to be increased and praised tenants for their input to the rent-setting procedure.
“A significant amount of time and effort is invested by the council’s tenants in the rent-setting process and, on a monthly basis, tenants have given up their time and gathered from across Angus to meet, discuss, and sometimes argue, over the best way forward,” the committee report states.
“Angus Council can take pride in its tenants’ movement; we have a very knowledgeable tenants’ movement who are prepared to give up their valuable time to work with the council to shape the future housing investment strategy for Angus.
“This year has seen lively, and at times vocal, debate as the tenants have negotiated to reach their recommended preferred rent increase of 4.8%. This tenant-led recommendation was not made lightly but has been made with the full knowledge that national government investment in new build housing has reduced and that tenants’ rents are increasingly important in the funding package to secure a future housing building programme for current and future tenants of Angus Council,” Mr Ashton adds.
“We intend to build on this history of involvement and ensure that we work hand in hand with our tenants as we modernise policies and seek to continue to improve our services.”