Labour’s lead councillor for housing has defended plans which will see council tenants paying nearly £4 extra a week for their homes.
Cllr Linda Woodings (Lab), portfolio holder for housing, explained why it was vital tenants paid more during an Executive Board meeting on Tuesday, February 22.
There are just over 25,000 council house properties in Nottingham, which are managed by Nottingham City Homes.
The Labour-led council is proposing to increase rents by 4.1 per cent, in line with many other local authorities. It will generate an extra £3.6m
It said the rise was needed to cope with increasing costs and to pay for more new council homes to be built.
But opposition Conservative leader, Cllr Andrew Rule previously said it was “just another hit” for household budgets.
The rise comes while the council is working towards paying back £15.8 million in rent income it spent on other services instead of ploughing it back into council homes – a move which was ruled as ‘unlawful’ by a legal warning notice.
Cllr Woodings (Lab) said: “It is an increase that is being applied across most other local authorities.
“The average two bedroom house rent will go up by £3.80 a week, so people will pay about £93 a week.
“Seventy-five per cent of our council house tenants will have the increase covered by their housing benefits.
“However, we are conscious of the cost of living crisis out there and always mindful of the 25 per cent of individuals that will have to find this increase and that is something that is always on our mind.
“We are mindful that between 2015 to 2019 all council house tenants received a four per cent decrease in their rents and that has left a hole in the housing revenue account that needs to be addressed.”
But the council said it is also due to invest £230m in its housing stock over a five year period, with more than 300 new council homes planned in places like Bestwood and Clifton.
She said: “Over the past year our housing stock numbers are at 25,284, we have lost 200 properties to the Right to Buy and we have built 45 new homes.
“We are at the tipping point having lost 50 per cent of our council housing to the Right to Buy. We can’t build them fast enough. The demand to be in rented affordable council housing is higher than ever.”
The Executive Board passed the rent increase on Tuesday, February 22. It will now go to Full Council in March for full approval.
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