Residents in a south-east London borough are facing a 7.7% rise in social rent, the maximum increase allowed to be enforced by the local authority.
Bromley Council has revealed plans to increase affordable and social rent levels from April this year.
Council documents for an executive meeting next week show the increase would affect London Affordable Rents and social housing rents. The 7.7% rise would see weekly rents going up by £13.87 for one-bedroom properties compared to last year, rising from £180.12 to £193.99.
The weekly rent for two-bedroom homes would increase from £190.71 to £205.39, while three-bedroom properties would see a £15.50 rise to £216.80 a week. Council officers acknowledged in their report that the authority had a requirement to set rent levels each year due to its duty as a social landlord.
The increase is the maximum social housing rent rise that providers, including local authorities, can enforce. It is derived from the consumer price index from September last year, which was 6.7%, with an additional 1% increase.
Officers added that the authority was facing increased pressure from those presenting as homeless as there is an insufficient supply of temporary accommodation. They said expensive nightly rate accommodation, such as hotels and hostels, were being used to mitigate the issue but that options remained extremely limited.
They said: “Despite all efforts to increase the supply of accommodation coming through housing association partners and private sector options. this supply continues to be insufficient to meet the level of need. Demand is also forecast to increase following financial pressures on households and reductions in availability of private rented accommodation in the current market.”
The report said the council had set out a target of 1,000 new affordable homes to minimise the rising costs of temporary accommodation. It added that 691 new units out of this figure had been sourced through housing acquisition schemes and building projects in areas across the borough such as West Wickham, Beckenham car park and Bromley North.
Plans for 38 new affordable homes on a site beside Bromley North train station were approved by the council in October 2023, as part of a wider project to build 75 new flats.
Alicia Munday, head of regeneration at Bromley Council, said at the meeting on October 5 that the authority was facing “massive pressure” on housing at present. The new homes will be in a pair of six-storey buildings and work is scheduled to begin in March this year, with construction lasting 18 months.
The rise in affordable and social rent will be decided at an executive meeting for Bromley Council on January 17.
