Council House Rent Increase For Adur Residents Deemed ‘Absolutely Necessary’

An rent increase for council tenants in Adur has been deemed as ‘absolutely necessary’ as the local authority sees a deficit from its housing stock.

Council housing tenants will see an increase of just over four per cent – or £3.86 per week – which will bring their average weekly rent to £94.12.

Members of Adur District Council’s executive approved the increase on Tuesday (1 February) in an attempt to help improve income from its housing stock.

Executive member for customer services Carson Albury (Con, Manor) – whose portfolio includes housing – said that 40 per cent of tenants should not be affected as they receive Universal Credit.

“The rent increase is absolutely necessary – not something that anyone would want to do – but it’s absolutely necessary to put us back on an even keel,” Mr Albury said.

“The dilemma that the council faces is how to balance the need to spend more on current stock with the need to provide more council housing to meet the local needs at a time when the HRA is at deficit.

“But I’m glad to say that as time goes on, and within about two years, we should be back on an even keel.

“I know we’re all looking forward to that day because being in deficit and depleting resources is not the best way to go.”

ADC’s housing revenue account – which is separate to its main budget and contains income and expenditure from its housing stock – returned a deficit of more than £380,000 last year and a £409,700 deficit is expected in the next financial year.

In addition to this, ‘cost pressures’ of more than £640,000 have been identified.

Financial officers said the council would have to rely on ‘dwindling’ reserves to help plug the gap.

“Council is faced yet again with setting a deficit budget and will therefore rely on the use of reserves in the coming year, as it grapples with the legacy of the fall in rental income and the need to invest in our council-owned homes,” they said.

Officers also outlined how a cap on what councils can charge tenants had ‘significantly affected the financial viability of the housing revenue account’.

They estimate this has resulted in a loss of £2 million every year since it was introduced in 2015.

As a result, the HRA ‘is not expected to return to financial health until 2023/24 at the earliest’.

Council leader Neil Parkin (Con, St Nicolas) said the cap was a ‘smokescreen for the government at the time’ which ADC is ‘still paying the cost for’.

The fall in income has posed ongoing challenges for the council which needs to spend £40 million on its housing stock over the next five years – and more to make its homes fire safety compliant.

A report before the executive says that a ‘significant proportion’ of the £5.6 million budget for property maintenance is now being used to address fire safety issues.

Officers said:

“We have of course continued our commitment to invest in council homes, investing £5.6 million in new schemes each year but that investment is critical if we are to ensure that homes are both safe and fit for our tenants to live in.”

They added that some tenants would have to be relocated while fire safety works were ongoing – leading to further losses for the council while homes lay empty.

In October, it was reported that some residents of the Southwick Estate said they felt ‘unsafe’ in their homes.

Councillors then approved an extra £454,100 for improvement works.

Officers also outlined the impact of the Right to Buy scheme, which gives council tenants the right to own their home.

Since April 2014, the council has lost 68 homes through Right to Buy – bringing its total to 2,537.

Officers said that the scheme would ‘never allow it to effectively replace a unit’ on a one-for-one basis.

It is expected that a further 25 homes will be bought through Right to Buy by 2023.