Over the 12 months from April, rent for all Barnet Homes flats or houses will rise by 2.7%.
In a report presented to the council’s cabinet last week (February 5) it was stated that between 2016 and 2020 central government reduced the rent social housing landlords could administer by 1% each year.
This ‘social rent reduction’ policy- part of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 – led to an estimated £6.1m reduction in income per annum.
Cabinet member for regeneration and housing Cllr Ross Houston said: “Nobody likes rent increases but one of the most damaging things that affected affordable housing was the rent freeze that was put in place.
“I think you can have a discussion about how you fund council housing, and that’s a separate matter, but if you’re funding it out of council rents, which is the system that has been in place for decades, having a freeze basically gutted the delivery of new affordable housing and it was an absolutely disastrous policy.”
The council said that as a result, rental income has not matched the demand of maintaining existing housing service.
According to the council, tenant rents make up 84% of all annual income received into its housing revenue account (HRA) and must pay for the “core housing services” delivered by Barnet Homes and ongoing debt repayment and charges.
An increase in temporary accommodation rents for those charged less than the current local housing allowance (LHA) rates will commence with the rents either increased by 10%, or up to the LHA rate.
The service charges paid by people living in council-owned housing blocks will also rise by 4.9%.
The increases are projected to generate around £2.2m for Barnet Council’s 2025/26 budget.
The report says the impact of service change rises on council tenants will be mitigated as many are covered by housing benefits, with over two-thirds of council tenants receiving either full or partial support. However, nearly one third do not receive this.
The additional money will assist the council in generating sufficient income to carry out necessary essential investment works in properties. The income will also help secure the delivery of new affordable homes.
Council leader Cllr Barry Rawlings described the increases as a “correction”, while Cllr Zahra Beg, the cabinet member for equalities, asked what mitigations were in place for vulnerable tenants.
In terms of tenant support, Shaun McLean, the group director of resources at the Barnet Group, which runs Barnet Homes, said there were “targeted campaigns” taking place, a dedicated team set up to carry out “early intervention work”, and an equality, diversity, and inclusion champion “understanding data to help identify areas of focus”.
