Cabinet to consider increased Housing Management Service Budget for 2025-26
Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet will consider approving the proposed Housing Management Service budget and proposed rent increases for tenants of Council owned properties for recommendation to a meeting of full Council.
The Council recognises the proposed increase will be difficult for tenants. However, it is critical to being able to meet the needs of Council tenants by continuing to invest in their homes and neighbourhoods to ensure that they are decent, safe and warm. The budget supports investment in ensuring homes meet the Decent Homes Standard and improving the energy performance of housing, which reduces energy costs for tenants, helps to tackle fuel poverty and meet the Council’s ambitions of achieving net zero by 2045 to tackle the climate emergency.
The increase will also ensure that there is sufficient funding to meet increased landlord responsibilities as part of the Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety Regulations 2022, and the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023, and to fund investment in properties to continue to address issues of damp and mould.
To meet these requirements, rent on Council owned properties is proposed to increase by 2.7% from April 2025. This is in line with the Government guidelines of an annual increase equal to Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) plus 1%. This means that the average weekly rent of the Council’s social housing will increase from £98.95 per week to £101.63 per week. The average weekly rent of the Council’s affordable housing (charged at up to 80% of market rent) will increase from £127.47 per week to £130.91 per week. Tenants will be contacted about their rent by letter. Support from Cheshire West and Chester Council and ForHousing is available to help and support tenants financially. The Council can help with advice on benefits, assistance with council tax, household support funds, free school meals, assistance with fuel and water, and more.
Rent on garages and the cost of Lifeline personal emergency alarm services is also proposed to increase by 2.7% from April 2025. The average cost of rent on garages will increase from £7.17 to £7.36 per week. The cost of Lifeline personal emergency alarm services for Council tenants will increase from £2.94 to £3.01 per week, and from £3.68 to £3.91 for private residents.
There will also be an increase to the landlord’s management charge for leaseholders of 6.53% reflecting increased costs to the Council due to inflation. There will also be an increase in shared ownership lease rents of 2.2%.
The Council owns 5,300 homes in the borough, predominantly in the areas of Ellesmere Port, Neston and Winsford. These homes will be managed and maintained by the Council’s strategic housing partner, ForHousing, until the end of June 2027.
Council tenants’ rents are ring-fenced to pay for all services, repairs, maintenance and improvements to Council homes. The Council’s housing stock has been managed by ForHousing since 2017, and since then a total of £41 million has been spent on improving Council housing, including a £15 million investment programme in the past year. This includes new boiler installations, roof replacements, kitchen and bathroom refurbishments, installing new double glazed UPVC window and doors and electrical rewiring upgrades. This has made sure that all of the Council’s properties meet the Decent Homes Standard by the end of March 2025.
The Council is facing financial pressures but is committed to ensuring sufficient budget is available for the annual repairs and maintenance of Council houses in the Borough. Our Asset Management Strategy and 30-year investment plan which were agreed by Council last year includes a significant £210 million investment programme over this period, with a focus on energy efficiency retrofit works to reduce energy costs for tenants, and to tackle issues of damp and mould. In May last year, we announced a further £3 million worth of energy efficiency improvements for hundreds of households to save money on energy bills for hundreds of households. This includes £1.5 million in funding awarded by the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to assist with upgrading 683 homes so that they meet a minimum of EPC Band C. Work on the transformation of Sutton Way estate in Ellesmere Port is set for completion late Spring 2025. Neighbourhood Improvement works in Stanney, including major improvement works to the garage sites and boundary works to the estate are also nearing completion. We very much appreciate the pressures of a rent increase for tenants on the cost of living and encourage anybody who is struggling to make use of the support on offer from the Council and ForHousing. In the context of increased costs facing the wider social housing sector across the country, a rent increase is necessary to ensure the Council can continue to maintain and improve the homes and neighbourhoods of tenants, some of whom are amongst the most disadvantaged in our communities. Reducing fuel costs, ensuring good quality and affordable homes, and improving the areas where people live is vital to support residents’ wellbeing.
To find out more about the commitments Cheshire West and Chester Council and ForHousing make to residents, visit the Council website to view the Together with Tenants Charter:
Support from Cheshire West and Chester Council and ForHousing is available to help and support tenants financially. The Council can help with advice on benefits, assistance with council tax, household support funds, free school meals, assistance with fuel and water, and more. Visit the Council website for more information:
ForHousing can offer support including budgeting skills, debt advice, support applying for benefits and saving on utility bills, applying for basic bank accounts, and wellbeing support. For more information visit: