At its meeting last night (Thursday 23 February) the Council unanimously agreed its Housing Revenue and Capital Budget for 2017/18 which will see rents for Council houses increase by 2.5%, which is below the Scottish average increase of 2.7% and will see building begin on a further 121 brand new Council homes in the coming year.
Convener of Neighbourhood Services, Councillor Stewart MacDonald explained, “Our revenue budget of just over £13 million pounds will ensure that we continue to deliver an affordable and sustainable housing service to our tenants. The proposed increase has been met with broad agreement amongst tenants and tenants groups through our consultation process and it also compares favourably with our neighbouring authorities, who are proposing increases of between 0.3% and 5%.”
The 2.5% increase delivers the income required by Council to balance the Housing Revenue Account and will increase the average weekly rent from £68.80 to £70.52 over a 52-week period, an average weekly increase of £1.72.
Councillor MacDonald continued, “Our Capital budget of just over £9.9 million pounds will ensure that we can continue to invest in our current housing stock, improving kitchens, bathrooms, windows, roofs – and also includes over £6.7 million for building new homes and £0.5 million to purchase properties on the open market.”
The housing capital programme for 2017/18 will ensure that the Council can:
- Maintain the Scottish Housing Quality Standard for all properties
- Make progress towards fully meeting the 2020 Energy Efficient Standard for Social Housing with the economic and environmental benefits that brings
- Progress a house building programme which will see construction begin on a further 121 new Council homes and 123 new housing association homes in the coming year
Councillor MacDonald concluded, “I believe that our housing budgets, with significant levels of investment will help us to maintain and increase our housing stock. I am also particularly pleased that we have introduced our Housing Scrutineers within our tenant community, who will oversee our service provision and this is further evidence of our commitment to engaging with our tenants and involving them in our service developments and decisions.”
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