Council house rent to rise

COUNCIL house rents in Newcastle are expected to rise by almost 5% in April.

- By DANIEL HALL

City leaders are due to sign off on plans that would impose a 4.8% rent charge hike for tenants of the 24,860 homes rented out by Newcastle City Council, the maximum permitted by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The council said that the rent increase was needed to "maximise investment capacity to build new homes and keep the current stock sustainable and compliant with health and safety legislation".

Most council tenants in Newcastle, 74%, are in receipt of either full or partial payments of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit and will see the rent hike met through their benefits.

For the remaining 6,466 who pay their rent from their own incomes, the average rent rise will be £4.58 per week from April 1.

Meanwhile, Civic Centre bosses have reported a major jump in tenant satisfaction, which they called "one of the most significant year-on-year increases ever recorded".