The rent you pay contributes to the maintenance and repairs of our existing housing stock to ensure your home is a ‘decent standard’ and that it meets the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022.
How is my rent calculated?
Most rents are set using the Governments rent formula for council homes, which was introduced in 2002. The formula takes into account:
- The value of the property
- The number of bedrooms
- Average earnings in the area compared to national average earnings
- Inflation rate, known as the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
Some rents are set as affordable rent, which are based on up to 80% of local market rents. Affordable rents are set on our new build properties or properties the council has acquired through purchases.
From April 2016 to April 2019, council rents were decreased by 1% annually, as required by government. From April 2020, we can increase rents annually by CPI inflation plus 1%.
Rent setting is approved annually by Cabinet before the start of each financial year in April. All tenants receive a letter at least 28 days in advance of the new rent year to let them know the change in their weekly rent and service charges (where applicable).
Your rent may also change during the financial year due to substantial modifications to your property. For example, if the number of bedrooms in the property has changed since the property was first built. If your rent needs to be reviewed and adjusted, you will be notified in advance if there are changes to the weekly rent charge.
When we make recommendations for rent increases, we will take into account the financial impact of an increase on tenants, but we will also consider the needs of the housing service to maintain, manage and improve our homes, and to be able to build new council homes in the future.
When making budgetary decisions, the Council has a duty to consult with those who are liable to pay council tax or non-domestic rates, as well as those who use or are likely to use services provided by the authority. The Council is also required to take into account their statutory public sector equality duty under the Equality Act (2010) and consider any relevant Equality Impact Assessments when formulating and agreeing proposals.
A public engagement exercise on the Council’s budget was conducted in Summer 2023 seeking residents’ views on how the Council should reduce spend in order to deliver a balanced budget. A further consultation exercise was conducted in Autumn 2023 on a basket of savings options which, if adopted for 2024/25, will impact residents and businesses in the Borough.
The final budget will go to Cabinet on 7 February, and then to Council for full approval on 20 February.
Why has my rent and service charges increased?
Due to inflation pressures, Sandwell Council have had to increase rents and service charges from April 2024. The costs of staffing and the supplies to repair and maintain our properties have increased significantly.
The requirements of the Consumer Regulations Act and Building Safety Regulations has meant that we need to review how we deliver our services to meet the required standards.
We need to improve how we address customer complaints, complete stock condition surveys to access the quality of our homes and where necessary, bring our properties up to a decent standard. We can’t achieve what’s required unless we maximise the income we collect from rent and service charges.
Why is this year a 53 week Rent Year, and how does this affect me?
This year is known as a 53-week rent year, which means your rent will be charged 53 times instead of 52. This cycle happens every six or seven years depending on when the first Monday in April falls.
This will have no effect on customers who pay their rent weekly. As always, we charge rent every Monday, so this doesn’t change. However, if you pay by monthly Direct Debit, the amount you pay may be slightly higher to account for this.
The 53-week year affects customers who claim Universal Credit (UC) as the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) only ever work on 52-week year basis.
If you claim Universal Credit, you will receive slightly less in benefits than your rent amount. This particularly impacts those customers on Alternative Pay Arrangements (APAs), which sees your UC benefit coming straight to us, as they will be one week short over the course of the year and arrangements will have to be made to pay for the shortfall.
Where do I get help, I can’t afford this increase?
We know that this is difficult time for many of our customers and we want to ensure support is available.
Our Welfare Rights Team can give you free independent and impartial advice and support of all welfare benefits. If you need any advice, please contact 0121 569 3158.
For more information please visit https://www.sandwell.gov.uk/resilientresidents.
If you are struggling to pay your rent, please contact the Rents Team on 0121 737 5148.
To help our customers budget and to give you peace of mind that your rent is paid on time, we ask customers to pay their rent by direct debit. You can set up a direct debit online at: www.sandwell.gov.uk/payingyourrent or by calling 0121 368 1166
What can I do to help me budget for my rent payments?
If you would like to set up an arrangement to pay a little extra towards your rent to help you budget for an unexpected change in your circumstances, please contact the Rents Team on 0121 737 5148.