Listening to tenants about rents

On 24 November, lead Council cabinet member for housing and planning, Olly Monk, and council officers, heard from tenants about rent setting and spending priorities.

Ten tenants from across Cornwall took part. They heard from council officers about the opportunities and challenges of financing Cornwall’s Council homes and tenants’ services. 

They also heard how the Council officers had already considered tenants’ feedback from the:

• STAR tenant satisfaction survey
• Your Home Your Views survey
• key themes from tenants’ complaints
• 12 case studies about tenants’ experiences managing with the cost of living. Of which half said that they felt there should be a ‘small’ rent increase because ‘good services are important’.

Tenants at the event were asked:

If the average weekly rent is £75, in pounds/pence, what do you think ‘a small increase’ would be?

The tenants at the listening event gave a range of responses from £2.25 to £6, with an average of £4.

Your rent, and how it’s spent

Councillor Olly Monk, the portfolio holder for Planning and Housing said,

"We have worked hard with Cornwall Housing and our tenants this year on getting the right balance between increasing the rent, while considering the impact the continuing rise in cost of living will have on us all. Like individuals and organisations across the UK, we anticipate many of our costs including repairs, materials and services, like yours, will rise by above 10% next year.

Although we appreciate the final rent increase is still more than we would all prefer, this will help to fund rising repair costs, future improvement programmes and safety compliance works to keep your homes safe and well managed."

Our key priorities for the year ahead

• Invest more to improve the condition of properties
• Deliver continued safety compliance work and activities on electrical and fire safety
• Tackle issues of damp and mould with prevention measures such as roofing works and improved insulation
• Fund rising repair and maintenance costs, as materials and service costs continue to increase