Housing Revenue Account

The Housing Revenue Account – HRA – continues to face a number of challenges in common with the General Fund, but we continue to follow our long-term plan for our HRA, seeking to invest in our homes in a responsible and sustainable way and to create more much-needed affordable housing through our new build programme, in line with our green priorities as a council.

  • We are proposing to increase our rents for 2025-26 in line with the new Government’s national rent policy, which proposes that rents will increase by up to CPI + 1%, based on the CPI rate as of September 2024. CPI is the Consumer Price Index, a national measurement for changes to the price of goods and services. CPI in September 2024 was 1.7%. The recommended rent increase for 25/26 would therefore be 2.7%, which is a significantly lower increase from the previous two years which saw increases of 7% in 2023-24 and 7.7% for 2024-25.
  • We are also proposing to bring our service charges and garage rents will in line with the rent policy, increasing them by 2.7%.
  • As a responsible landlord, we will invest £3m to support and protect our most vulnerable tenants, helping them to maintain their tenancies.
  • We will also have an Investment Plan which identifies nearly £16m on new build projects over the next 5 years, as well as investing over £168m to maintain our existing stock at a decent standard. This includes continuing to support an Apprenticeship and Working Routes programs. which give young people opportunities and a second chance with employment and training.
  • We also welcome the proposed changes that the Government is making to the Right to Buy scheme, which include reviewing the level of applicable discounts, extending cost floor protection, and excluding new build properties, all of which should reduce the rate at which our existing stock falls in future.
  • We’re committed to supporting our Carbon Net Zero action plan, and are funding more green actions next year, with over ten thousand sustainability measures being funded over the next 5 years, all of which will contribute to reducing our carbon footprint.

We listen to our tenants, and we are proud of the services we deliver to them. Our budget proposals demonstrate our ability to respond to challenges and to continue to deliver our long-term objectives in line with the Our North Tyneside Plan.