Your social rent

How your social rent is set

If your tenancy started after 15 January 1989 you will have an assured or assured shorthold tenancy, and your rent is set using the policy below.

Since April 2002, the government has taken a major role in setting rents for tenants of housing associations and local authorities. The aim of this has been to ensure that rents for similar properties in similar areas are consistent. The Regulator of Social Housing’s Rent Standard 2020 outlines requirements and guidance for landlords in setting rent.

The guidance says that for a property:

• 20%-40% of the rent will be based on property value
• 60%-80% of the rent will be based on relative local earnings
• The number of bedrooms will have an impact on the rent
• The landlord can add 5% if required for its general needs accommodation and 10% for its supported housing
• Individual rents increase annually by inflation (Consumer Price Index, or CPI) plus 1% from April 2020

Rent increases from April 2024

CPI for the year was 6.7%. This means your rent may increase by up to 7.7%.

This is 1% above CPI because the Rent Standard says we may increase CPI by +1% each year.

We will send you a letter explaining how much your new charges are for the upcoming year.

If you pay rent by Direct Debit

We will automatically adjust this for you so you’re paying the correct amount.

You will receive a separate letter from Allpay detailing the new charge from April 2024.

Please check this against your new charges letter to ensure that the correct amount is paid from April.

If you need to amend or set up a Direct Debit

Our customer accounts team will be happy to assist you in setting up or amending a Direct Debit. Call us on 0203 535 3535 Monday-Friday, 8am-6pm.

If you want to set up a Direct Debit, you will need to have a bank or building society account that accepts Direct Debits. You’ll also need your:

• MTVH payment reference – this will be on any letters or statements we’ve sent you
• Name and address
• Bank’s name and address
• Account number and sort code

How we calculate your monthly payments (from your weekly rent)

How we calculate your monthly payments depends on your payment reference number.

Your payment reference number can be found on the top right-hand side of the letter we have sent you next to ‘Our Ref.’

If your payment reference number:

• has a /M01 at the end, your rent is charged on a Saturday
• is all numbers, your rent is charged on a Monday

Rent charged on Mondays

There are 53 Mondays in the next rent year (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025).

We have calculated your monthly rent charge by dividing 53 weeks worth of rent by 12 equal payments. This will ensure you pay the correct amount of rent due over the coming year.

Sometimes a financial year will have 52 or 53 weeks depending on the calendar year.

Rent charged on Saturdays

There are 52 Saturdays in the next rent year (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025).

We have calculated your monthly rent charge by dividing 52 weeks worth of rent by 12 equal payments. This will ensure you pay the correct amount of rent due over the coming year.

Rent reviews

We give all tenants at least one month’s notice of any rent increase. Rents for assured tenants go up most years in April (or May in some cases).

Service charges

In addition to the basic rent, many tenants are required to pay a service charge.

This covers items such as:

• estate grounds maintenance
• communal lighting
• caretakers’ costs
• communal cleaning
• lifts
• decorating

It also includes the administration costs that relate to those services.

We provide the services in the most cost-effective way that can reasonably be expected.

The annual increase in service charges reflects the inflation associated with the cost of providing estate and/or block services, unless we were previously under-charging you or there has been a significant change in the services provided.

Appeals about your rent

If you are not happy with the increase in your total rent (including the service charge), most tenants can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). This is an independent body that will recommend a market rent based on the rents charged by private landlords in the area. The appeal must reach the First-tier Tribunal before the rent increase is due.

The Tribunal cannot decide whether the rent (excluding service charge) is correctly increased under the Rent Standard.

Find out more about appealing your rent on GOV.UK.

This page was last updated in February 2024.