Fife Council rent to rise by 5.5 per cent from April

The decision will see £5.09 a week added to the average rent cost with the same increase applied to garages, lockups, and temporary accommodation.

Budget proposals from both the Labour administration and the SNP group included the same 5.5 per cent rise which, it was stated, was the lowest which could be put forward without affecting services and future investment.

Labour councillor Judy Hamilton, who is the local authority’s spokesperson on housing, said it was a necessary step to protect Fife’s already stretched housing services.

Speaking at the recent budget setting meeting, she said: “Good quality housing is a determinant of wellbeing and health and never more so than in a housing emergency.

“This budget comes at a critical time. We are in a housing emergency, demand is rising, costs are rising, expectations are rising and at the heart of it is the simple truth that everyone in Fife deserves that warm, safe, affordable home.

“The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) gives us the power to act to build new homes, to buy homes, to improve existing stock and to reduce the number of families, and especially children, in temporary accommodation.”

Cllr Hamilton said the increase was decided on after consultation with tenants.

“We have already engaged with tenants through the tenant conference last November. The consultation there suggested a seven per cent rise could meet priorities but in the survey of all tenants which went out over the winter, 62 per cent of respondents preferred the 5.5 per cent increase.

“The tenants’ top three priorities were home improvement, new build housing and more old people housing.

“I am committed to affordability – I introduced the Fife living rent which ensures our rent levels remain below local authority average, below housing association rents and significantly below private rents.”

Cllr Hamilton said there was a commitment for the council to buy back 50 properties per year – with ambitions for that to increase to 100 – while a review into the possibility of property extensions is also planned.

She added: “I have taken the view that it is necessary to invest an additional half a million pounds in property adaptations to support tenants to remain safely in their homes when they need this service.

“With an ageing population, I think we would all agree to support that.”

A £1.4m tenants’ support fund has also been created to help residents who don’t receive housing benefit or Universal Credit who may struggle with the rent rise.

SNP councillor Brian Goodall was pleased to see agreement on the 5.5 per cent figure.

“That was the lowest rent increase finance and housing managers told us we could deliver that would still keep our housing service operating and delivering on its long-term business plan,” he said.

“Yet it took a motion from the SNP at a cabinet committee to give our tenants the opportunity to even consider a 5.5 per cent increase as part of the annual rent setting consultation.

“The options of six, seven and eight per cent were put to that meeting of the cabinet and on behalf of my group, I proposed that we rule out the eight per cent increase and give our tenants the chance to have their say on what we were told was the lowest possible viable increase, the 5.5 per cent.

“We are still facing a cost of living crisis and we should be doing all we can to keep any increase in rents and other charges as low as possible.”

Cllr Goodall said the biggest difference between the proposed budgets was how the additional capital investment would be spent.

“We have made it clear that while maintaining the current investment proposals for our current council housing and delivering all the new build council housing proposed in the current HRA capital investment plan, the additional capital investment created by this budget should be used for two things,” he said.

“To deliver even more new council houses to be available for rent via increased acquisitions and to consider a programme of council house extensions to help deliver even more of the right type of homes in the right places.

“We believe the time is right to explore the opportunities to extend existing council houses to provide suitable accommodation for those with disabilities all across Fife but also for larger families particularly in areas like North East Fife and Dunfermline where house prices make acquisitions of larger homes much more difficult.”

Liberal Democrat Fife group leader, Councillor James Calder, welcomed the fact that the rent rise was the lowest option.

“We are pleased both of the proposals are keeping rent increases at 5.5 per cent,” he said. “Considering the cost of living crisis, this is a responsible position.”

The proposals from the Labour administration were approved on a vote of 38 to 32.