City council house rents set to rise

RENT for thousands of council house tenants in Swansea will go up by 4.3% in April, the maximum level allowed.

- RICHARD YOULE

People living in a one-bed flat will pay £104.21 per week all the way up to £137.20 per week for a six-bed house, a council report said.

The authority is having to spend a lot more to maintain and repair its 13,800-odd houses and flats but rental income is growing more slowly. The report said this divergence was creating a “significant and escalating risk”.

A new system of rent-setting is being introduced in Wales next year for councils and housing associations. Key to the calculation is the level of inflation in the September before the year the new rents come into effect.

The maximum level permitted in 2026-2027 is a 0.5% increase on top of the 3.8% inflation figure in September, taking it to 4.3%.