Proposals to take tenant affordability into account when setting rent prices have been agreed by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet.
Cabinet members also agreed to include the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Living Rent model as part of its existing policy and use it to benchmark at least every two years to ensure affordability levels for tenants.
Earlier this year, the Council undertook a consultation with tenants. Feedback from this exercise was considered as part of Cabinet’s decision.
The majority of tenants feel it would be fairer and more transparent to take average household earnings from across the county borough into account when setting rents, as opposed to breaking rents down by areas or bands.
Cllr Shayne Cook, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, comments “Caerphilly Council is committed to ensuring rents remain affordable for our tenants, particularly in light of the current cost of living crisis. This year Cabinet adopted a 2% rent increase; one of the lowest in Wales. Caerphilly also has one of the lowest local authority housing rents in Wales.
“The views of our tenants are extremely important to us and I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the rent consultation exercise. Feedback from this consultation has been vital in helping us agree our approach to rent setting, in order to ensure affordability and value for money for tenants.”