Council tenants in Cambridge face 7.7% rise in rent

Council tenants in Cambridge face a 7.7 per cent rise in their rent from April.

City councillors agreed the increase at a housing scrutiny committee meeting on January 23.

It means an average council home rent increase of £8.69 per week for all social rented and social shared ownership properties, and an average increase of £13.05 per week, including service charge, for those paying ‘affordable rents’.

Garage and parking spaces for tenants are also due to go up by 7.7 per cent.

The percentage rise was calculated using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation in September 2023 - 6.7 per cent - plus one per cent.

Meanwhile, rents for affordable shared ownership properties are due to increase by RPI, measured in January 2024, plus 0.5 per cent.

A report presented to the meeting said the rent increase would allow the authority to balance its budget and help pay for work to improve the energy efficiency of 1,700 homes, which it said would lower energy costs for tenants in the long term.

It noted that the housing budget faced “significant financial challenges” due to the “significant investment” needed for the work.