Maximum Rent Rise Approved for Council Tenants
Better news on service charges and heating costs
Clem Attlee Court in Fulham. Picture: Glyn Baker
February 12, 2025
Hammersmith and Fulham council tenants are to start paying an additional 2.7 per cent in rent from April though will benefit from a reduction in service charges.
Tenants and leaseholders on the district heating network are to also see a drop in their weekly spend on hot water and heating.
The changes were agreed on Monday night (10 February ) as Cabinet members approved the council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget for 2025/26 as well as its business plan for the next decade.
The rise in rents is the maximum allowed which is 1% over the rate of inflation as at September 2024.
The HRA is a ring-fenced account funded by income from tenants and service charges, plus some other property-related activities. It manages and maintains the council’s owned stock.
It is separate to the revenue budget, which sets council tax rates and is used to fund day-to-day services such as street cleaning.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has put forward a balanced HRA for the year ahead which includes the additional rent income.
A paper presented to Cabinet stated the additional 2.7 per cent will equate to an average annual rise of £189.80 for the year ahead.
This will remain below private rents. Council officers wrote, “For illustration, the weekly rent for a one-bedroom Council home is proposed to be £129.30 from April 2025 whereas the same in the private housing market would be likely to be at least £490.37. For a two-bedroom Council home, the proposed weekly rent is £134.11 from April 2025, only 20.9% of the expected rent in the private housing market of £637.46.”
The paper also detailed how tenant service charges and the cost of heating and hot water for properties on the district heating network are to come down in 2025/26.
Some service charges, such as caretaking and grounds maintenance, will rise, but reductions in door entry and communal lighting costs will see tenants on average paying £1.32 less per week.
This is due to Cabinet in October 2022 approving a change in policy from fixed to variable service charges, meaning tenants and leaseholders pay ‘a fair proportion of those costs’, according to the paper.
On communal heating, which is currently received by more than 1,700 homes, officers wrote: “The average weekly reduction on the scheme is £0.45 (communal heating, tenants only), £1.99 (tenants’ personal heating) and £3.80 (leaseholders’ personal heating). However, there is a range of reductions both below and significantly above the average particularly for leaseholders.”
A series of other changes for 2025/26 are also outlined, including a 1.7 per cent increase to garage charges and car space rentals.
The 10-year plan meanwhile detailed how an expected £850m is to be invested in new and existing homes over the next decade, including in repairs and making properties more energy efficient.
Conservative opposition councillor Adronie Alford asked Cabinet members at Monday night’s meeting whether there remains enough in contingency funds to cover any unexpected issues that may arise next year.
Cllr Rowan Ree, Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform, assured Cllr Alford contingencies are built in to each budget.
Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of the Labour-run local authority, added, “We will always put extra contingencies into the housing budget because it’s such a priority for us that our residents can live in high quality housing. Not everyone does at the moment, but we will get there, and we will guarantee everyone has high quality housing. It’s one of the key things that we care about.”
Hammersmith and Fulham’s proposed revenue budget, which includes a combined 4.99 per cent council tax and social care precept increase, is to go to Full Council on February 26 for a final decision.
The budget includes total new investment of £12.3m and £5.1m of ‘efficiencies’ for 2025/26.
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter