Proposed changes to rent and service charges
Your views wanted – Proposed changes to rent and service charges
The council is consulting on proposals to change how they calculate rent and service charges and how they provide that information to tenants. The proposals if approved would come into effect from April 2018 and will be considered (amongst other places) by full council on 20th February 2018.
The review of how these charges are calculated and how this information is provided to tenants is been carried out in line with the Government most recent guidelines.
For current tenants who pay a service charge in addition to basic rent – The council are proposing that the service charge is re-calculated and based on the actual cost to the Council of providing that service. A full breakdown of services and the cost for individual tenancies will be provided with the annual rent review letter, allowing tenants to clearly see what services they receive and what they are paying for. However, we intend to minimise the financial impact as much as possible whilst making sure we are being clear about what tenants are being charged for. Therefore, where the actual costs of providing the services are higher than the current service charge paid, we will gradually build in the increase on an annual basis.
You can view an information sheet with further details on the proposal below :
[wpfilebase tag=file path=’Website_Rent_Consultation_-_Sheltered_Tenants.pdf’ /]
You can comment on the proposals by clicking here
New tenants & tenants who transfer between properties – The council is proposing that from 1st April 2018 new tenants and tenants who transfer between properties are charged what is known as the applicable ‘formula rent’ for that property – which can sometimes be slightly higher than the rent we currently charge existing tenants. Also, where a service is provided as part of the tenancy, the council proposes that this is charged for separately to the rent and the charge will be based on the actual cost of providing that service. Detail of the services provided and charges applied will be provided to tenants on an individual basis as these can vary from property to property.
You can view an information sheet with further details on the proposal below :
[wpfilebase tag=file path=’Website_Rent_Consultation_-_New__Transferring_Tenants.pdf’ /]
You can comment on the proposals by clicking here
The consultation closes on Friday 9th February.
If you have any questions, comments or views on either of the proposals please let me know your views – you can get in touch by clicking here
