Report Calls for More Rent Flexibility

The government has been urged to allow social landlords greater flexibility over setting rents on a local basis as part of the affordable rent model. The call from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors comes as part of a wide-ranging review into the UK’s residential housing policy.  In the review RICS said that the £1.8 billion 2011/15 affordable homes programme was ‘not a long term solution to the provision of affordable housing’, claiming that an ‘over-reliance’ on borrowing against assets would leave housing associations unable to raise more money after 2015. It said the government should consider allowing providers to set rents within boundaries set by local authorities. Currently, under the affordable homes programme, landlords can charge up to 80 per cent market rent but these are set in consultation with councils, which can veto rents deemed to be too high.  RICS said allowing landlords to work within pre-set parameters ‘would create homes that meet the needs of the community’.  The report also called on the establishment of a cross-departmental group to look at how affordable housing is funded.  Download a copy of the review from the RICS website.

Row Erupts Over Council Rent Hike Plans

Westminster Council has been attacked by Labour councillors for "misleading" the Government in its bid to set higher rents for medium and high-earning council tenants. The council claims that more than 2,200 social housing households in the borough earn over £50,000. Westminster has used the figures to push for flexibility in council rent setting, to allow it to charge medium and high-earning tenants more. The extra cash gained from higher rents, it says, would go to building or acquiring new homes and keeping rents low for the truly vulnerable, such as pensioners. However, figures released by the council's chief executive following a request from the Labour group, show that the majority of the 2,200 tenants earning over £50,000 a year were housing association tenant households. Councils have no part in setting housing association rents, however. Read more on 24dash.