Perth and Kinross councillors vote to increase tenants' rent by 2.2 per cent
01.02.2023 - 17:47
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) tenants will see their rent increase by an average £1.62 a week in April 2023.
Councillors rejected a Liberal Democrat attempt to go against the wishes of tenants - who narrowly voted for the lowest option of 2.2 per cent - and increase it by 2.9 per cent.
The decision was taken by Perth and Kinross Council's Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee on Wednesday, January 25.
The 2.2 per cent increase will mean an average weekly rent of £75.23 per week for council housing tenants.
PKC owns and manages 7,923 properties. The Housing Revenue Account receives rent income from houses, garages, and other properties.
In November 2022, PKC surveyed all 7,923 tenants asking them to indicate their preferred option in terms of a rent increase. Three options were put before tenants with details on what each would fund the council to do.
The three options were a rent increase of: 2.2 per cent, 2.9 per cent or 3.2 per cent. All three options would result in new and increased investment in: buying stock for repairs and improvements, service and maintenance costs, increased utility costs, contract price increases, fire sprinkler systems and continued funding for digital, financial and social inclusion.
An increase of 2.9 per cent would have supported buy back funding of £20million over five years to buy back 40 ex-council properties per year, £150,000 for planned maintenance and an additional £40,000 of enhanced measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The 3.2 per cent increase would have supported buy back funding of £25 million over five years to buy back 50 ex-council properties per year,£200,000 for planned maintenance and an additional £80,000 of enhanced measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.
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