COUNCIL tenants throughout the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area face a rents increase following last Thursday’s Fife Council budget meeting.

The biggest landlord in the district that covers Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Crossgates, Hill of Beath, Kelty, Lumphinnans, Benarty, Cardenden and Kinglassie, will increase rents by 3.3 per cent.

Fife Council unanimously approved the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget for 2015/16.

The local authority pointed out that this rent increase was supported by 49% of people who responded to the Tenants Survey carried out, and was also unanimously backed at the Annual Tenants’ Conference last December.

Councillor Judy Hamilton, Executive Spokesperson for Housing & Building Services, said, “I am delighted to have the backing of Fife Council to take forward the £102million HRA budget for next year.

“The agreed rent increase will help us meet our target of 2700 affordable new homes and continue improving the quality of our existing housing, making them warmer, drier and healthier.

“Fife is the highest investing local authority in Scotland and we’re very proud of that. We’re committed to meeting the needs of this and future generations of tenants.

“Having the support of our tenants is critical to continuing with the improvement in housing services.” John Mills, Head of Housing, confirmed his delight at the Council’s support for the HRA budget, “Our tenants are at the heart of what we do, and what we aim to do in ensuring that the Housing Service strives to be the best in Scotland.

“The rent increase will help us to improve key services with greater tenants’ influence going forward.”