Home » Flintshire social housing rents to rise by maximum 2.7%

Flintshire social housing rents to rise by maximum 2.7%

Flintshire Councillor Sean Bibby was among those calling for the Welsh Government to provide additional funding to decarbonise social housing - a policy which is adds significant cost to the authority's spending programme.

SOCIAL housing tenants in Flintshire will face the maximum 2.7% rent increase allowed by Welsh Government as Flintshire’s Housing and Communities Department wrestles with increasing costs.

But the increase will not offset additional expenditure on decarbonisation mandated by the Welsh Government – with councillors demanding more support from the Senedd.

Flintshire Councillors have approved a Housing Revenue Account report which recommended a 2.7% increase in social housing rent for 2025/26.

That is the maximum cap for social rent increases in Wales next year – calculated by adding 1% to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from September last year.

That means a social housing tenant receiving no housing benefit will pay an additional £193 on average next year. Those on partial housing benefit will see their annual rent bill increase by £128.

Garage rents will also increase by 2.7%.

The spending plan also revealed building new social housing and completing major repairs on existing stock will be Flintshire’s biggest expense next year, costing the authority £28 million.

Upgrading empty properties to Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS) to re-let them to tenants will cost an additional £6.8m.

These are the largest costs the Housing and Communities Department has in its budget and the report indicated that a significant reason for that is the investment in decarbonisation – making homes more energy-efficient.

Decarbonisation is part of the WHQS  and is a priority for the Welsh Government. In light of the budget report Flintshire councillors challenged the Senedd to come up with more money to ease the burden of a policy it has imposed.

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Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities Cllr Helen Brown said: “Decarbonisation is fantastic but we’ve got to have the funding to be able to achieve it.”

Cllr Sean Bibby added: “While we agree with the Welsh Government’s ambition on decarbonisation, it needs to be in line with reality and what we can afford to deliver.

“There is a responsibility on Welsh Government to ensure they are providing adequate funding to meet the challenge of decarbonisation and to provide the quality and standard that our council tenants deserve.”

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