Council house rent is to rise by almost 5% in the next financial year after Powys County Council’s Cabinet approved the proposed increase which we reported last week.
The council says that the 4.95% increase will continue to fund the council’s housing services and its work to bring its housing stock up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.
The proposed percentage guideline increase by the Welsh Government will see the average weekly rent rise by £3.33 to £70.59. The average guideline increase for Wales is 5.1%.
Cllr Tony Thomas, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “We are committed to ensure that people have appropriate and affordable housing in which to live. However this needs to be balanced against our commitment to improve our housing stock to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.
“If the rent increase was below the guideline set by the Welsh Government, this would result in less revenue to invest in services. This is due to the complexities of current subsidy arrangements.
“This level of increase will enable us to maintain our housing services and secure more investment to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard whilst keeping borrowing at a minimum.”
