Rent information 2024/25

On this page you can find information about your rent and charges 2024/2025.

Your annual rent review

Your tenancy agreement says that every year we will review all FCHO rents.

The 2024/25 rent increase for our customers has been calculated in line with government policy, following a government-set formula linked to inflation.

This means we can continue to provide value for money services and make the investment needed in homes and communities.

We always try to keep rents as affordable as possible, and we need to balance this with the rising costs of repairing and maintaining homes and other essential goods and services.

By how much are rents increasing?

In April your rent will increase by 7.7%.

How is this calculated?

• We follow the government’s guidelines on rent setting. Current government policy allows housing associations to make rent increases that are calculated by combining a ‘cost of living’ increase, which is set using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation, plus an additional 1%. This is to make sure rent levels are capped and remain at an affordable level.
• CPI changes each month, and so we use the previous September’s CPI to calculate rent increases for the financial year starting the following April.
• In September 2023, CPI was 6.7% - therefore rents for 2024/25 can increase by up to 7.7% (6.7% CPI + the additional 1%)

What is CPI?

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a figure used to measure inflation.

Where does your rent go?

Investment, maintenance and repairs

Continually improving our customers’ homes to make sure we provide high quality, safe places to live is one of our main priorities - we know how important this is to you.

Throughout the year, we’re investing circa £28m  in our homes and neighbourhoods in the following areas:

• Fire and building safety measures
• Maintaining and replacing roofs, windows, and doors
• Replacing and maintaining kitchens and bathrooms
• Improving the energy efficiency of homes
• Servicing, maintaining, and replacing boilers
• Electrical servicing and improvements such as home rewires
• Cyclical maintenance to blocks of flats and communal areas.
• Internal redecoration to blocks of flats.
• Improving open spaces, tree pruning and tree planting
  
  

Building new homes

This year we are investing £34.5m as part of our strategy to build good quality, energy efficient new homes and help improve the lives of local people.

We are delivering a variety of house types – from one-bedroom apartments to family homes – to help meet local housing need and we are offering a range of tenures, including affordable rent, and shared ownership.

How £1 of the rent is spent 2024/25

How we can support you

We know that the increase to your rent and charges and other cost of living rises can have an impact. If you need a hand managing this, we’re here for you.

If you need help, please get in touch with us and we can work together to help stop any debts from escalating.

Get in touch with our specialist teams for personalised help with…

• Making your money go further with access to affordable food, debt reduction advice, checks on the benefits you’re entitled to, energy saving information plus more tailored help if you need it.
• Support to pay your rent and charges with affordable payment plans and help to apply for additional support.
• Advice to find a job or move your career forward if you’re in work
• We can also signpost you to other local organisations to make sure you get all the support you need.

Call 0161 393 7117, email CommunityServices@fcho.co.uk or visit the dedicated need a hand campaign page here on our website.

Service charges

Your service charges are reviewed annually and set in line with the expected cost of the services provided to you for the coming year, and include things like communal cleaning, grounds maintenance and communal electricity, as well as other services.

The charges will vary from each property depending on the specific services your home benefits from.

Your tenancy agreement will set out your service charge obligations.

Why are heating costs increasing for customers on district and communal heating systems?

The new charge for heating and hot water that you pay for by pre-payment meter has been set in line with the price of the operational costs to run the heating system.

We provide your heating supply through a district or communal heating system that serves many of the homes in your area.

Unlike normal domestic supply to households, you do not pay a standing charge, so you will only pay for the energy when you use it.

The amount your costs will go up by depends on how much energy you use.

Like many other businesses, we are continuing to experience increased costs for a variety of goods and services.

As well as fuel, your heating and hot water charge includes costs associated with running and maintaining the system. Unfortunately, these are beyond our control and they have now risen.

We have therefore had to make the very difficult decision to increase the charge for heating and hot water, to reflect this. We do not make any profit from your heating and hot water charge.

We are continuing to make sure we are doing all we can to minimise the impact of energy price rises and other cost of living increases on our customers, and we have a comprehensive package in place to give customers a hand if they need it. You can find more details about this in the ‘How we can support you’ section on this page (above).

Your non-chargeable weeks

Non-chargeable weeks (weeks when rent isn’t charged) for 2024/25 are:

• 1 April 2024
• 8 April 2024
• 23 December 2024
• 30 December 2024

If you pay your rent monthly the reductions will already be applied to your payment calculations.

If your rent balance is in arrears, we would encourage you to continue paying some or all of your rent during the non-chargeable weeks to help reduce your debt.

When to pay the new amount of rent

The new rent and charges are in place from 1 April 2024. This is a non-chargeable week for any customer not in arrears, so you’ll make the first new payment on 15 April 2024.

The 53-week year – what it means for rent payments if you pay by Universal Credit

The financial year which runs from 1 April 2024-6 April 2025 is a 53-week year. Instead of there being 52 Mondays, there are 53. As your rent is charged on a Monday, this means you will need to pay your rent and charges for 53 weeks this financial year instead of 52.

Universal Credit only pays for a maximum of 52 weeks' rent in a single rent year, so your Universal credit payments will not cover all your rent payments in 2024/2025. You will need to work out the shortfall and make additional contributions to cover this.

Our team will be providing tailored advice and support to customers affected by this. In the meantime, if you would like more information, please contact our team on 0161 393 5353 or email fit@fcho.co.uk.

Get involved

Customers are at the heart of everything we do and we value your feedback on how we can best spend our income.

We work with our Customer Voice Panel to ensure your views are represented.

If you would like to be part of this, please contact our Stronger Communities team.

Email ci@fcho.co.uk or call us on 0161 393 7117.