A Sunderland-based housing association has announced that it will be hiking rent for its tenants by 4.1% from April.
Gentoo has revealed its plans which will see tenants seeing a rise of £3 to £4 per week on average.
The rise comes following five years of annual Government-imposed 1% rent decreases between 2015 and 2020.
Go here for more Sunderland news and updates from Sunderland Live
Social landlords are currently allowed to increase their rent by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1% each year.
As CPI in September last year was 3.1%, this means social housing providers like Gentoo can increase their rent by 4.1%.
Gentoo Group’s chief executive officer, Nigel Wilson, said: “We are aware of the increased pressures on households due to the rising cost of living.
"The decision to increase our rent was a difficult one and the Gentoo Group Board debated this at length.
“As a social housing provider we must continue to deliver homes and services that our tenants rely on us for, and we must collect enough rent to pay for these services. This includes investing heavily in our existing properties, to modernise them and keep tenants safe.
"We are faced with increasing costs ourselves, including the legislative investment required as part of the forthcoming Building Safety Bill, and the huge cost of decarbonisation."
"We have been clear and honest with our tenants in our communication and have provided important information on the support we can provide for anyone that may have difficulty paying their rent alongside other household price increases."
Gentoo has this week sent out information to its tenants to let them know of the changes and outlined the support it is providing to tenants who would like support to pay their rent, including through its Money Matters Team.
The housing association also confirmed it is spending £66m in repairing and maintaining its existing homes, with approximately £35 million to be spent building new and affordable homes.
In addition to the rent increase, some tenants will also see their service charges increase - with Gentoo saying that its service charge increases are capped at £5 per week.
Tenants will receive their standard rent notification letter at the beginning of March, which will set out exactly what tenants’ new rent and service charge payments will be from April 2022.
If tenants are worried or need help paying their rent, they can contact Gentoo’s dedicated Money Matters Team for advice or support.
They can be contacted by email at moneymatters@gentoogroup.com, via SMS text by texting 'money' followed by your name to 07860 022 026 (text charged at your network’s standard rate), or by telephoning 0300 123 2004 (calls to 0300 numbers will cost the same as calls to a landline number and will be included as part of any inclusive call minutes).
If tenants have questions or comments about the rent increase, they can get in touch with Gentoo by emailing feedback@gentoogroup.com or by visiting the Your Gentoo Voice portal, here.
