Funding your housing services – have your say

Overview

The Covid-19 pandemic has been hard for everyone. While we are so proud of how our communities have supported each other, we know that many have lost their jobs or had their hours reduced and that families are struggling to manage.

Some tenants and some of the businesses and organisations that rent other properties from us have been struggling to pay their rent, and some have stopped trading.

We expect to lose an estimated £5 million this year in rent and charges because of the pandemic, and that we will need to find another £4.9 million next year to keep your housing services running as they are. We expect that the coming years will be tough financially too.

We have asked the government for help but so far they haven’t offered any funding.

Why your views matter

Officers from your housing services have been there on the front line to keep you safe and well throughout the pandemic. We want to keep it that way. A report will be taken to the Council’s Cabinet in January, recommending that we do this by increasing rents and charges from April 2021.

Please note that we propose keeping average weekly increases to rent and charges under £2 and that if you receive universal credit or housing benefit, your benefit will be adjusted to pay for any increase.

Although this is not a formal consultation, you know your housing services best and we’d like to hear about any ideas you have for how we can make savings or be more efficient. Your views and ideas will feed into January's Cabinet report. Cabinet will consider the report and make a decision about whether to increase rents and by how much.

Please complete this survey by Monday 4 January 2021 to share your comments about the proposed rent increase or any ideas you have about where we could make savings locally.

What happens next

Thank you to all tenants who shared their views and ideas about where we can make saving for the future in the 'funding your housing services' survey. 

Your comments and ideas will feed into January's Cabinet report as part of the budget setting process for 2021/22.