Rent Calculations for 2009/2010
In April 2002, Wakefield Council brought in a new way of working out rents in line with Government rent restructuring guidelines.
This new method was introduced so there would be a consistent approach to setting rents across the country. The rules apply to both Councils and Housing Associations and are aimed at harmonising rents between the two sectors.
Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) is a Housing Association, which is registered with the Tenant Services Authority. So the rent restructuring rules continue to apply to us.
What does rent restructuring mean?
The rent restructuring formula works out a rent for each property based on a number of reasons. These include the value of the property and the number of bedrooms.
Because the rent from the formula may be different from the rent people are already paying, the Government gave Councils and Housing Associations ten years to introduce the changes. This is so all the rents should be at the same level as the target rent by April 2012.
How will it affect me?
When we consulted all our tenants about the proposed stock transfer, we made some promises:
Existing tenants at the time of transfer
One promise was that we would continue to carry out rent restructuring, but there would be safeguards built into the process. This way no one's rent could increase more than inflation, plus 0.5% plus £2.17 each week (on a 48 week basis). This promise will be kept.
If your rent is not already at the target level, your annual rent increase will be made up of an inflationary increase, plus the adjustment towards the target rent.
The overall effect of these two must not be more than the maximum increase, as the promise to tenants (that is it cannot be more than inflation, plus 0.5% plus £2.17 each week).
If you are already at your target rent, then the increase will be limited to inflation plus 0.5% each year.
New tenants joining WDH after transfer
New tenants who move into a WDH property and were not a Council tenant at transfer, will begin to pay the target rent immediately.
The annual rent increase will then be limited to inflation plus 0.5% each year, as for existing tenants who are already at their target level.
If property values affect my rent, does this mean it will be going up at the same rate as house prices are going up?
The answer is no. It is true the rent restructuring formula does use property values when working out rents. To ensure that all Councils and Housing Associations set their rents on a similar basis, they must use the property values based on a common point in time, this was January 1999.
To make sure this is done properly, property values are calculated by professional external valuers. They look at the current value of properties, and then backdate the value to January 1999 levels by looking at things, such as how local house prices have increased.
Because the value used in the formula is the one at January 1999, this means the effect of large increases in house prices will not affect your rent.
What is the average rent level for 2009/2010 and how do these vary across the district?
The following table shows the average rent (excluding service charges) for tenanted properties in each of the areas within the management area:
| Management Area |
Average Rent 2009-2010 |
| 1 |
Lupset, Ossett and Horbury |
£67.79 |
| 2 |
Castleford, Airedale, Normanton |
£66.29 |
| 3 |
Pontefract, Knottingley and Featherstone |
£66.80 |
| 4 |
Hemsworth, South Elmsall and Crofton |
£67.52 |
| 5 |
Wakefield City and Rural |
£67.45 |
| |
Overall Average: |
£67.16 |
Additional charges
As well as rent, you may also pay service charges. These are for services which may not be provided to everyone, or may be for shared facilities rather than for a particular home. Some tenants may receive different types of service according to their needs.
WDH will only make a service charge where it is considered necessary to do so (that is: where the costs of those items are not covered by rent).
Examples of service charges include:
- The cost of meals within extra care schemes.
- Using the Care Link alarm system.
- Use of communal facilities within a sheltered scheme.
- District heating.
WDH ensures that all service charges represent value for money, are based on high standards and are in line with current good practice. This is achieved by calculating charges to show the economic cost of providing the service to everyone who uses it. Besides this, tenants are consulted about WDH charges for these services, so we can be sure that people agree that this is both equal and fair.
Want to know more?
If you have any questions about rent calculations, please contact your local Service Access Point, (contact details are in your Tenants Handbook) or phone OneCALL on 0845 8 507 507.