Rent rise from April 2024 – additional support
We are currently writing to all residents with details of rents to be paid from April this year.
There is no need to contact us about your rent at this time, but we wanted to emphasise that we can provide additional support for any resident worried about paying your bills. If you are at all worried, please contact us and we will do all we can to help.
The amount of rent we and all other social landlords can charge is set by the Government through what is called the rent settlement. For shared owners, this will also be set out in your lease.
We are a not-for-profit organisation and we use income from rents to provide services, invest in existing homes and develop new affordable homes. The costs we pay for things at settle have increased and we are seeing higher demand for the services we provide. We need to make sure we have enough money to invest in existing homes, and to plan for the future.
We’re here to help
We understand that any increase in rents will be difficult for some residents, especially with ongoing cost of living pressures.
Our principle is that we want to be there for all residents when you need us, enabling us to deliver our commitments to support all tenants to live safely and comfortably in your homes.
We have dedicated support in place to provide additional help. If you are at all worried about paying for things like rent, food or heating your home, please get in touch. There are lots of ways we can help, through our settle colleagues, things like the settle comfort fund, or working with partners like Pocket Power, who can help reduce household bills.
You can find more information about the support that we might be able to provide on our web page support from settle [link to https://www.settlegroup.org.uk/support-from-settle/] or please call us on 0330 313 0016 and we will always do all we can to help.
If you don’t accept the proposed new rent
If you do not accept the proposed new rent, you can refer this to the tribunal. The tribunal is a panel of 2 or 3 independent professionals, such as solicitors and surveyors. You can see more details about the tribunal on the Citizens Advice website.
By the end of February we will send all residents a booklet with the details of your full rent and charges from 1st April. The booklet will include details of how to contact the tribunal and what you must do. You must contact the tribunal before the starting date of the proposed new rent. You must also let us know as your landlord that you are contacting the tribunal – our website details ways to contact us.
