The 2026 Rent Consultation, launched today, proposes to increase rent by 6% for 2027/28 to keep providing tenants with good quality services, including improvements and upgrades to homes. 

Councillor Miranda Radley, convener of the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee, said: “We know that decisions about rent are extremely important to our tenants, particularly when many households continue to face pressures from rising costs.

“This consultation is an important opportunity for tenants to tell us what they think before any decisions are made.”

Rent paid by council tenants is held in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which can only be used for housing services including repairs, improvements, housing management and building new homes.

To help keep rents as low as possible for tenants, the development of new council homes has been paused following the 2025 Rent Consultation, reflecting the difficult decisions needed to balance investment in homes with affordability.

The results of the consultation will be presented to councillors at the HRA budget meeting on 8 December 2026. Any changes to rent would start from April 2027.

The consultation will run until 2 November.