As a not-for-profit organisation, all rent we receive is used to provide our services and repair and improve homes. Rising costs mean it would not be possible to continue providing the same level of service to our customers without a rent increase.

The rent increase takes effect from 1 April. Customers who pay their rent weekly on a Monday will make their first payment of the new amount on 3 April 2023. The increase will be applied from 1 April 2023 for customers who pay their rent monthly.

Increases in affordable and social housing rents are set by the government and are linked to inflation. On average our rents remain well below that of similar privately rented homes.

Shared ownership rents are set in accordance with the terms of the lease agreement between us and the shared owner.

We understand this rent increase may not be easy for you. We do not take any decision to increase rents without considering the wider impact for our customers.

We’re on your side and want to help you remain in your home. If you are struggling to pay your rent please make sure you talk to us sooner rather than later. Remember the sooner you tell us, the faster we can help you. Call us on 0300 555 6666 or click here to visit our cost of living support page. We understand that the cost of living is affecting everyone in different ways. We won’t judge you and will do our best to help.

This year we have seen the cost of providing services that may be included in your service charge, such as heating and lighting, increase dramatically.

If your service charge is fixed, you will not yet have seen these increases reflected in what you pay as we have absorbed the additional costs. Your service charge will go up from April to accommodate this.

You will have received an annual rent charge review letter from us.

You need to keep this letter safe and use it to report your rent change to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on or immediately after 3 April 2023. It’s a good idea to set a reminder or make a note to do this. If you don’t you could miss out on money you are entitled to.

You can report the change through your Universal Credit online account from 3 April.

We have already contacted your local authority’s Housing Benefit team about the rent change. You do not need to contact them.

We will automatically adjust your Direct Debit, so you don’t need to do anything. We will send a separate letter to your rent review letter confirming what your new Direct Debit will be.

If you pay your rent by standing order you need to contact your bank to change your payment to the new amount.

If you switch to a Direct Debit you will not have to do this in future. Direct Debit is safe and secure and you can choose when payments will be taken. Call 0300 555 6666 for more information about setting up a Direct Debit.

As a not-for-profit organisation, all rent we receive is used to provide our services and repair and improve homes.

We provide a full breakdown of how your rent is spent in our annual report to customers. Click here to read the report for 2021/22.

We recognise our repairs service needs improving and we are doing all we can to reduce delays. We have a backlog of repairs caused by national material and labour shortages. COVID-19 restrictions also added to the backlog. Click here for repairs updates and waiting times.

If things haven’t gone as you expected or you’re unhappy with something we did, please let us know. We’ll work with you to understand what happened and do our best to put it right.

You can do this by filling in our feedback form. Click here for more information about feedback and complaints.