Rent Setting Policy
Each year the Associations rent setting policy
is reviewed in accordance with the Tenants Services Authority
Regulatory Code and Guidance. The annual review this year took
place at the Associations Boards on 28 January 2010.
The policy sets out the Associations approach
to setting rents for all the Associations properties. The aim of
the policy is to ensure that the Associations achieve ‘target
rents’ within the required dates of 2012 for general needs and 2013
for supported housing.
Once the policy has been approved by the
Boards the reviewed policy is used to agree the rents, service
charges and other charges that Associations will use for the
following year.
For 2010/2011 the Boards have approved the
following:
Where the rent is below the target rent the
Associations will change the rent by the September RPI (retail
price index) plus ½% then increase it up to a further £2.17 (based
on 48 week rent payment year). If the rent is above target then the
rent will change by September RPI plus ½% and then decrease the
rent by up to £2.17.
As at September 2009 the RPI was -1.4% and
allowing for the addition of ½% this has meant a rent decrease of
-0.9% from April 2010, but then the allowance of the £2.17 per week
needs to be taken into account.
The exception to this is property leased to
Signpost Housing Association from Western Challenge Housing
Association, where the residents of these properties make 52 rent
payments a year and as a consequence the allowance is up to £2.00
per week and not £2.17. These changes also take effect from October
2010.
Shared ownership rents will be increased in
accordance with the terms of their specific lease.
If you would like a copy of the Rent Setting Policy please
contact us. Click on the link 'Contact Us' in the top of the right
column for our contact details.