Rent and charges review
Information on why your rent or charges may have changed and what to do if it has.
We’ve recently finished our review of rent and other charges.
Every customer will get a letter explaining what their new rent will be. This letter also includes any changes to additional charges, such as service charges.
We appreciate you may have questions, so we’ve answered some of these below.
If you still have questions or concerns, please get in touch. We’re here to help.
If you’re a shared owner, leaseholder or homeowner, please click the buttons below for your specific FAQs.
Frequently asked questions
Why are you increasing my charges?
We understand that any increase to your rent and/or other charges isn’t good news. However, to enable us to keep up with rising costs, we need to increase rents and service charges for the year ahead.
Increasing our charges is essential to making sure that we, as a social housing provider, can continue to fulfil our responsibilities to keep our customers safe and secure, as well as continuing to provide – and improve – essential services, while also delivering more much-needed affordable housing.
How much is my rent increasing by?
For most customers with a tenancy agreement, rent increases are set in accordance with government rent policies, which is the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as at the previous September plus one percent. This means there is an increase of 4.8 percent from April 2026. For tenancies that are not included in the government rent policies or licence agreements, 4.8 percent will be applied, or the charge will be adjusted in accordance with the increase clause set out in the agreement.
How is my rent spent?
All of the rent we receive from our customers is reinvested into our business. This helps us to maintain our homes, improve the services we provide and build more affordable housing.
Much of the money we receive is spent on housing management costs and improving repairs and other key services.
A proportion of our income is also spent on repaying loans from investors who’ve provided funding to help us to grow and deliver more homes.
What if I can’t afford the increase?
We know it’s been a challenging few years and that people are facing a range of financial pressures, including an increase in energy and food costs as well as household bills. As always, our priority is to support customers to sustain their tenancies and licenses as we want to help prevent rent arrears as much as you do.
We have a highly-skilled and dedicated Financial Wellbeing Team who are trained to ensure you maximise your benefits, help you manage your finances and support you through any change in circumstance.
You may choose to take advantage of this service now and help you prepare ahead of the rent increase.
Other questions you might have
For our customers who are on a 48-week tenancy, there are four payment free weeks during the financial year. Find out more here.
We understand that you might be unhappy with these increases and consider refusing to pay. However, your rent is legally considered to be a priority bill and should be paid before other bills such as gas, electricity and water.
If you decide not to pay your rent, it’ll result in arrears building up on your account and we’ll then have to take action to recover the money that’s due. This can affect your credit rating and even put you at risk of losing your home.
We want to avoid this unnecessary situation as it may mean you face more debt and possibly legal fees, which would only make your financial circumstances more difficult.
We appreciate times are tough and people may be struggling to pay their bills which is why we follow a firm but fair procedure when it comes to missed rent payments or rent arrears.
If you miss a payment or fall into arrears, you must get in touch with our Payment Support Team as early as possible to discuss any difficulties and arrange an affordable repayment plan based on your income and expenditure. If you’re struggling, we’d also encourage you to speak to our Payment Support Team to discuss your situation or to take advantage of our specialist Financial Wellbeing Team.
Please contact one of our trained advisors to explore how they may be able to help you. Call us and ask to speak to our Financial Wellbeing team, or speak to your Housing Officer or Scheme Manager, if applicable.
You must immediately tell your local council’s Housing Benefit Team about this increase before the change takes effect.
You can do this by taking the charge notification letter included in this pack to your benefits office. The benefit team may also be able to accept a scan or photo of your charge review notification as evidence.
Please check with your benefit office how they’d like to receive this.
Important: Intentionally failing to report a change in your circumstances that entitles you to less benefit can constitute fraud.
You must inform the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as soon as possible after these changes have taken effect.
You can do this by reporting a change of circumstances in your Universal Credit journal account.
It’s crucial that you don’t update your Universal Credit journal until 6 April or soon after. It’s important to report the change as soon as possible after it’s taken effect otherwise you might miss out on payments.
Don’t worry, your Direct Debit will be adjusted automatically. You’ll receive a separate letter from us in March confirming the change. Please check your Direct Debit has been adjusted as you’d expect, and contact us if you wish to query the calculation.
Many people have struggled financially or found themselves in debt and experienced the emotional pressure it can cause. If you have financial concerns, it’s important not to panic, but you can’t ignore them either – they won’t go away.
If, because of this increase, you believe that you’ll be unable to pay your charges on the due dates, you should contact us as soon as you can. We may be able to help with alternative payment arrangements and can signpost you to our additional support services, such as our in-house Financial Wellbeing team.
Our Financial Wellbeing team has a range of resources to support you, including access to independent debt advice. Don’t suffer in silence.
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