Changes to your Rent from April 2023

We have increased your rent in line with the government rent cap on social housing rents. We normally base any rent increase on the Government Rent Standard.

When CPI increases, so do our costs. Your rent increase for next year is significantly below CPI. This increase will help maintain your home to a good standard, provide an improved service to our customers and help fund our building safety work, making sure you are safe in your home.

The details of your rent increase will be in a letter you receive in February.

One of the reasons your rent has increased is because our costs have also increased. Our costs have gone up because of a growth in the rate of inflation.

The Rent Standard is an economic standard that the Regulator of Social Housing expects registered providers, such as Shepherds Bush Housing Association, to comply with. It sets the requirements around how registered providers set and increase rents for all their social housing properties in line with government policy.

You can find more information about the Rent Standard, here. 

We follow rules set by the government when we calculate any changes to your rent.

The government website explains that social housing rent will be increased by a maximum of CPI +1%.  

The government normally allows registered providers to increase rents by CPI plus 1%. However, this year the government has introduced a 7% cap on social housing rent increases. You can find more information about the cap on social housing rent increases, on the government website.  

So your rent will increase for 2023/24 by a maximum of 7%. 

There are a number of different types of tenancies across our properties and this may mean your rent is different to your neighbours'. The type of tenancy typically depends on when the tenancy started.

• Fair Rent Tenancies were usual granted between 1977-1988
• Social Rent Tenancies were granted from 1988 onwards
• Affordable Rent Tenancies have been granted from 2012 and usually apply to our new developments.

As a general guide our Fair Rents tend to be our cheapest tenancy, followed by Social Rent Tenancies. Affordable Rents are higher as these are based on a maximum rent of 80% of the market rate. 

We are determined to offer homes that our customers are proud of as well as good value for money. This price increase will help us achieve this by allowing us to reinvest in our current homes, improve our customer service and help fund our building safety work, making sure you are safe in your home.

In your rent increase letter you will see a number of areas where we have spent your rent over the last 12 months. This transparency hopefully gives you assurances that we are spending your money in the right places.

Our priority is to support our customers to sustain their tenancies, and we want to help prevent rent arrears as much as possible.

Our Income team are trained to ensure you get the most out of your income and benefits, help you manage your finances and support you through any changes in circumstances. Their services are friendly, free and confidential.

Please get in touch with them as early as possible if you need help to pay your rent. You can do so by emailing income.team@sbhg.co.uk. Alternatively, there is advice and support available from the local Citizens Advice Bureau.

If your Housing Benefit is paid directly to you, then you will need to inform Housing Benefit of your rent increase before April 1 2023, to make sure you receive the correct payments.

If your Housing Benefit is paid directly to SBHA, you do not need to take any action. We will inform Housing Benefit of your new rent.

Once you have received your rent changes letter, which arrived in February, you will simply need to inform the DWP of this increase via their online portal after the rent increase has been applied. It is important that you do this on your review date in order to avoid issues with receiving your benefits.

For support in doing this please contact our Income team, income.team@sbhg.co.uk.

If your Universal Credit allowance or Housing Benefit isn’t enough to cover the additional rent increase, we strongly recommend that you make an appointment to see a member of our Income team who can work with you to find a solution.

If you pay by direct debit the Income Team will automatically adjust your payment to reflect the rent increase.

If you pay by Standing Order, you must contact your bank to amend your payments to the new amount, ensuring you quote your account reference number above, by 1 April 2023. 

We know that the increase in energy prices is really impacting our customers. Recently, the government announced a significant increase in the energy price cap, which will see the average household paying just under £700 more per year. 

We want to work with our customers to ensure their income is maximised wherever possible and we will always offer affordable repayment options for those falling into arrears.

Our Customer Support Offer looks at employment support, debt, fuel poverty and wider money and budgeting advice through partnerships. All of which has the primary aim of putting and keeping our customers on the right track.

Find more information at our dedicated Energy Price Increase Page.