Social housing rent

Guidance on rent for people on low incomes. This includes information about social rent, affordable rent and annual rent increases.

Social rent

This government-subsidised rent is for people on low incomes. It can also be referred to as ‘fair rent’.

Fair rent is a protected rent and is charged to residents with a secure tenancy. These are tenants who started their tenancies on or before 15 January 1989.

The rent is worked out by a Rent Officer and is assessed every two years. 

Affordable rent

Affordable rents were introduced by the government to allow social housing providers, like us, to charge up to 80% of the local market rent for the homes we let.

These rents may be higher than those we've charged in the past, but the extra income we get is used to help develop new homes for those in housing need.

Our affordable rent policy is based on local earnings rather than a percentage of the market which often means that it’s considerably lower than 80% of the local market.

The rent we charge will be no more than 80% of the market rent value, but may be lower depending on location. This means that homes will remain more affordable than renting privately.

Affordable rented homes are let through the local authority housing register in the same way as our social rented homes. 

Annual rent increases

Every year, we review the rent you pay for your home, and your new rent comes into effect each April.

We follow rules set by the government when we calculate any changes to your rent and it cannot be increased by no more than the Consumer Price Index (CPI), plus an extra 1%.

We'll write to you about this beforehand, letting you know exactly what your new rent will be.