Rising rent on the cards for council housing tenants in Gosport – but they should see improvements

Gosport Borough Council approved its housing board recommendations to raise rents by the consumer price index (CPI) plus one per cent, the maximum allowed by the government. CPI is a measure of how much a basket of goods and services are going to rise over a set period of time, that is used by an average urban household.

From April, social housing weekly rents will increase on average by £6.80, affordable housing rents by an average of £11.80 and hostel rents by £13.93. Tenants currently paying £89.52 per week will see rent increase to £96.41, hostels paying £180.89 increase to £194.82 and affordable rents from £166.85 to £178.65 for 2024/25. The rent for all garages will also increase in line with inflation. Despite the rent rises, service charges for most homes will be cut by an average of 2.1 per cent, a drop of 11p per week.

In its report to full council on February 7, an officer report said the benefit cap has risen by 6.7 per cent and the National Living Wage from £10.42 to £11.44 per hour (9.7 per cent). The council has 3,064 tenanted and 308 leasehold properties which generate over £17.7m in rents for 2024/25, it added.

With rents rising, the council has also laid out its plan to improve homes. It wants to spend £9.1m in 2024/25 as part of its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital plan on maintaining and improving existing stock. This includes rewiring, fire safety and replacing kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors.