Highland Council eyes up rent rise of between 8 and 10%
Council house tenants look set to face inflation-busting rent increases of between eight and 10 per cent, under options being considered by the local authority.
Highland Council has launched a public consultation and is seeking the views of council house tenants across the region over its options to increase rents by either eight, nine or 10 per cent in the coming 2025/26 financial year - amid a “significant increase” in maintenance and repair costs in the past 12 months,
It follows a 7.95 per cent rise last year, which the council said had helped it to slash house repair waiting lists - with the number of lower priority repairs in the backlog falling from 1500 to under 600.
And the council stressed that the size of the rent rises will have a “direct impact on the services [it] is able to deliver next year and in the future”.
Tenants’ rent money pays for repairs, maintenance and improvements, and the council said it is vital it has enough to “carry out these essential tasks”.
The three different options would increase weekly rents by between £7.17p and £8.96p, and generate between £1.854 million and £3.2 million in extra funding for the council's housing budget.
All three options would enable the council to spend an additional £219,000 on grounds maintenance that will allow weed control and strimming to return to the levels of previous summers.
And they will also raise an extra £289,000 for cyclical maintenance such as external and environmental works like guttering and fencing in its estates.
Depending on which option is chosen, an extra £1.346m to £32.019m would also be raised towards its work to install external wall insultation and new windows and doors in its homes.
The eight per cent rent increase will enable it to install new external wall insultation in an additional 50 houses, and new windows and doors on an extra 80.
While the 10 per cent rise option would mean an extra 75 houses get new wall insultation, and 120 extra would receive the new windows and doors. It would also provide £673,000 for new builds targeted at meeting specific housing needs.
The council is urging everyone that lives in a council house to take this chance to have their say.
Chair of the housing and property committee, Councillor Glynis Campbell Sinclair, said: “With the ongoing pressures on household budgets, it’s never been more important to receive feedback from tenants on rent levels.
"We encourage all tenants to have their say over the coming weeks. The survey is open now and closes on Friday, December 13.
"A formal decision on the 2025/26 rent level will be made at the Housing and Property Committee on Wednesday, January 29.”
Tenants have been sent an email, text message or letter detailing the options for the rent increase. Tenants can follow links to the online survey and for those that don’t have access to complete the survey online, there is a dedicated phone number so they can speak to a member of the tenant participation team between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.
Further information can be found on the council's website at www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/29547/rent_consultation_2025-26.
The online survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/RC2526website.
You can also email tenant.participation@highland.gov.uk or call 07387 234107 for more details.
