Weekly rent rise of £3.50 on the way for most Wandsworth tenants
Wandsworth council tenants are set to see their weekly rent rise by up to 2.7 per cent from April, the maximum allowed under government guidelines.
The proposed rent increase would result in 16,876 tenants paying an average of £3.56 more a week, excluding service charges.
A report by council officers said the proposed rent increase would generate an extra £3.13million a year. This would help to protect the viability of the authority’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan, it said, which sets out spending and income relating to its housing stock.
It comes after the Government confirmed in December that social rents for 2025/26 could be increased by a maximum of 2.7 per cent. This was based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising by 1.7 per cent in the 12 months to September 2024.
The council’s housing committee approved plans to adopt the maximum allowed rent increase in Wandsworth on Wednesday. A final decision will be taken at a full council meeting on February 5.
The level of rent paid by a council tenant depends on the number of bedrooms in the property. The council has provided the planned increases in average weekly social and affordable rents for 2025/26 according to the size of the property.
That means one bedroom properties will pay £3.12 per week more, two bedroom homes £3.74 extra and three bedroom places £4.40 per week. Four bedroom properties will pay an added £2.22 per week.
Overall, the plans would result in an actual average rent increase of 2.47 per cent, or £3.56 a week, due to the current profile of rents in Wandsworth.
Some tenants have their rent met in full by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit. Residents in receipt of these benefits can apply to the council for a Discretionary Housing Payment to help pay their rent if they are struggling to meet the total cost.
Pictured top: Wandsworth town hall (Picture: LDRS/Charlotte Lillywhite)
