Social housing rent increases ?

that's all it says under the affordable rent section, the bit im woried about is...Therefore, affordable rents are determined by current rent values in the open market.


i'm guessing my rent is deemed to be'affordable rent' Are they saying they will increase my rent to bring it in line with the one bedroom private market rates, i mean ffs i'll have to go back in to go homeless as one bedrooms where i live are about 260-300 a week, no way could i afford that in rent

thanks but i can never get thorugh to them, ill try email, im not a political person but this comes from the governemnt, they usually have caps as to how much HA can charge, looks like not any more, typical tories going after the poor.

there's 3 phone numbers, all engaged but yeah i've just been scrolling around their website, and have emailed them, I expect a reply in a bout 7 days lol, i'll ask one of neighbours when i see them,rent goes up every april anyway, but only by 2-3 pounds, i get the feeling they want all there properties to be private rent value properties now and squeezing the likes of me out.

I don't know if I should say tba, i'll pm you if u want

As I said, Social Housing rents will be determined to an extent by market rents, but they should still be affordable.

Anyway, I have copied this from another HA's website:

How your rent is set

Assured tenants

If your tenancy started after January 1989 you are likely to have an assured tenancy with us. As an assured tenant, your rent is set under the Government's rent-setting policy. This policy aims to make sure that:

    rents for social housing remain affordable and well below rents set by private landlords
    rents for social housing are fair and clearly explained
    there is a clear link between the rents paid and the quality, size and location of homes
    there is no significant difference between the rents set by councils and housing associations.

We have to calculate a 'target rent' for each of the homes we own. The formula for the target rent has to take account of:

    the market value of the property compared with the national average value of housing association and council properties
    average earnings in the area compared with national average earnings
    the number of bedrooms the property has.

The actual amount you pay should be the same as your target rent by 2012. However, the maximum amount by which we can increase your weekly rent each year until we reach your target rent is the rate of inflation in September plus 0.5% plus £2.

After your target rent is reached, weekly rents may rise by no more than inflation plus 0.5% a year under current Government guidelines.
Fair-rent tenants:

If your tenancy started before January 1989 you may have a secure (fair-rent) tenancy with us. As a fair-rent tenant, your rent increases once every two years and the independent Rent Officer has to agree the increase. Generally, the rents of our fair rent tenants are very similar to the rents of our assured tenants

I guess the key factors are "government policy" and "target rents".

If you find you can no longer afford the rent, can you apply for Housing Benefit?

He must be Somalian

You can apply for housing benefit but i would still have to move eventually, as i couldn't afford one bedroom private renting prices, no chance, whiuch is what it would basically be if there are no more government caps to HA properties, new benefits caps are now set at £350 a week from april 2013, which includes rent and council tax, so coucil tax around 25 a week, tax band b - and that is being reduce in my borough too by 2.5% for benefit claimants, which basically digs into any jsa you may claim, and if the HA  increase the rent to private prices it could be up to 260-300 so I may JUST qualify for this housing benefit but what then? I couldn't then get ajob to pay that so i  would have to leave and go god knows where.

and from next october there is a new univesal credit which inludes jsa and housing beneift, so my claim would smash though the 350 a week benefit cap this time next year, not that im planning to be on benefits, but i could still be **** if i lose my job.

Zone 1 coves the congestion charge zone covers much more than hammersmith and chelsea

I'm not Somalian, I'm white, english 20's Work on crap wages and work 5 days a week, 3 week days and all weekend, i don't want to be on benefits thats the point here, i want to be able to afford my rent, which i don't know if I will be able to from april.

Who said the government are going to increase SH rents to private rent levels?

thats what i mean, in the op, they send a new booklet about government changes then they include the sub text i posted in the op, considering i've been here a few years, why would they send me a new government changes booklet telling me something they would assume i know anyway about how rent is calculated, that's why i posted asking what it meant, i thought they were trying to say new changes meant they were significantly increasing my rent to bring it much closer in line with the true market value, but thanks for your help, i think i'll find out soon anyway mate.

im from london, my work, firend and family are here coach, im not moving to those places by myself, that's not living. and i am working now just not on great wages. Hope a living wage comes in soon.

living wage in London -  is there such a thing ?

i'm not moving from a 1 bed flat into a shared house, where  would have to share the bathroom, toilet, awakward passing in the stairs with people i don't like etc, and all into a double room, and tottenham is the last place in london i'd move to, it's not nice any time of the year believe me on that score,

theres this new bedroom tax too, i bet they start saying my living room is a bedroom and i have to rent it out as part of their new under occupancy laws, i bet labour get in next.

Would you consider yourself a key worker in the area? Nurse, teacher, social services, etc?  Would certainly be harsh on you then if they forced you to pay a big increase in rent.

better explanation here   http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/affordable-rent

Ayers Rock, it means you have to move to Canvey Island, because us hardworking taxpayers have had enough of subsidising your lifestyle.

Even a 36 hr NMW wage should get you a take home pay of just over £200 a week.
If rent is split equally between tenant and undeclared girl-friend then about 35% of take-home income is being spent on accommodation ( is council tax payable on top, or included? )

According to the ONS housing costs are typically between 33-37% of their price index, so this isn't bad at all.

And consider the upsides.

ZONE ONE - London - one of the world's most exciting cities with loads of FREE tourist attractions, and some good value ones you can pay for too.
Living room big enough for a bed if necessary
Not sharing toilet or bathroom
Only people you like are passing you on the staircase
Friends and family nearby, although living with family is out, as they're nice but not that nice
Everywhere else is so bad GOD HIMSELF doesn't know where it is.

Er, hang on, there must be a downside to this, there must be

No one on average/low wages will be able to afford london rents soon

Are they expecting the likes of bus drivers post men and road sweepers to commute to work ?

for coachbuster, you're obviously not from London, zone 1 is like any of the zones in london when it comes to rent prices, you can extremely wealthy streets, turn a corner and there's a concrete jungle estate ot 24 story tower block, zone 1 centrally is pretty un-residential towards the outskirts it  covers area such as Elephant and Castle, a real dump, Old street, a real mix, aldgate, kings x, euston, lambeth, edgeware road, there are real horrid placess amongst them, nobody lives in Oxfprd street or picadilly circus.

cookedarm, i'm not a key worker,

early morning riser, TYVM,

bongo, say you have a job on minmum wage, £6.08 a hour and work 40 hours a week.

-That's £243.20 a week
-Deduct tax and NI
-deduct rent
-deduct coucil tax
-deduct weekly water cost on direct debit
-deduct weekly electric cost on direct debit
-deduct weekly gas cost on direct debit
-deduct weekly TV license payment
-deduct weekly food cost
-deduct weekly travel cost
-deduct, weekly phone/broadband cost

and what you have is less take home pay than if i were to go and sign on the dole and claim HB.

I don't want the violins out, we all have to pay our way through life, but surely you can understand being concerned about a sudden rise in rent, i work hard because i haven't worked out how to be successful on betfair