The social media pages were flooded with praise from tenants who felt that the Co-operative had tenants at the heart of the decision taken.

Chair Joan McFarlane said: “I am delighted by the feedback from tenants, we had hoped that this would be the response and we want members to know that we are thinking about them during these difficult times.”

The Co-operative has been working for many years to address a long-standing issue of higher than average rents in the local area. Its board met on December 1 to decide the rent increase for 2021/22 and were unanimous in their decision to freeze rents for 2021/22.

The Co-operative said: “This year has been unprecedented due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and challenges that this has brought for tenants and the Co-operative alike, the board recognised that many households may be struggling to make ends meet and that no rent increase would be applied in April 2021 to help ease some household costs, they also made a commitment to carry out an in-depth review of affordability.”

Tenants received the news in their Winter Newsletter issued alongside their Tenant Report Card and Annual Assurance Statement with positive comments posted immediately including “just the best time of year to get news like this”.