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.