‘Quietest social rent increase in history’ slammed by resident group

The majority of social housing tenants are facing rent rises of 7.7% from April.

As the news wasn’t shared with media organisations but simply released via an update to the Regulator of Social Housing’s website, the Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) has accused the government of trying to sneak the change in unnoticed.

It commented:

“The low-key publicity surrounding this statement no doubt reflects government’s recognition that sharply hiking rents for the poorest and most vulnerable tenants in Britain is not a good look in an election year.”

It said:

"As major announcements go, this year's statement on the social rent cap has to be one of the quietest in history."

The social rent cap

Housing association rents usually go up every April but the amount it can go up by is limited by the social rent cap set by the government.

For 2024/25, the cap has been set at 7.7%, and there is no cap on service charges.

Housing associations don’t have to raise rents by the full amount but, according to SHAC, they tend to do just that.

Indeed, the cap for 2023/24 was set at 7% and a survey by Inside Housing in February last year found most social landlords in England were planning to increase rents by this amount. It is widely expected the response will be the same in 2024/25.

Struggling to survive

Speaking to SHAC, a Clarion tenant said:

“Any increases would be totally unjustified, not only because many of us living in housing association properties are struggling to survive financially, but also because our landlords have not been providing good enough services in return for our rents.

“Services that used to be included in our rents are no longer carried out, and instead we have to pay higher and higher service charges for those things.”