Rugby councillors vote to increase council house rent by £1.45 a week - here's why

Council house residents across Rugby face an average weekly rent increase of £1.45 after councillors approved the move at a full council meeting this week, January 2.

The proposal from the communities and homes portfolio holder Cllr Emma Crane (Con, Leam Valley) was given cross-party support and will be a 1.7 per cent increase on the average property.

She told the meeting: “In these challenging times there are many tough decisions to make and we have to conserve both the resources we have and the future affordable housing needs of our residents.

“So for 2021/22 we are proposing the government recommended rent rise of CPI [consumer price index] + 1 per cent. Whilst we are always conscious of a rent increase on our tenants, Rugby BC will remain the provider with the lowest rents in the borough and significantly below market rates.”

Cllr Crane also explained that the number of council properties had increased and that a number of improvements would be carried out over the next 12 months.

She said: “I am pleased to report that progress has been made on new housing acquisitions in spite of Covid delays.

"We have acquired 32 new homes and are due to take receipt of five brand new section 106 homes imminently with more to come in 2022.

“For the second year in a row, Rugby has acquired more properties that we have lost through ‘right to buy’ with 13 sold during the year.

“We will be rolling out new energy efficient boilers to a further 610 council homes as well as installing new bathrooms at 125 properties.”

A Liberal Democrat amendment for the council to embark on a tree planting programme to maximise the use of land under housing control was also approved.

Group leader Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Lib Dem, Paddox) said: “I am aware that the housing department has quite a lot of land and green spaces around its properties so could we actually do something with that land with extra trees and biodiversity to actually match what we were saying in the climate change emergency.”

Labour group leader Cllr Maggie O’Rourke (Lab, Benn) said: “Our local housing needs will continue to grow and be very challenging for all of us.

The biggest priority for Rugby is making sure we have enough good quality housing stock ready and waiting for those people who will need it in the future.”