How your rent is calculated and notifying you about annual rent
increases
How is my rent calculated?
Since April 2002, Rochdale Council rents have been worked out
using a new method devised by the Government. Following a 3 year
review of rent re-structuring the Government decided that from 1st
April 2006 the same method of calculation will be used for
calculating Council and Housing Association (HA) rents. This
means that homes of a similar age, value and type and in the same
area will eventually have similar rents – known as the ‘target
rent’. The new rules do not apply to private rented property.
Your rent is based on just 5 factors:
- The number of bedrooms in your home
- The average wage in Greater Manchester compared to that of the
country as a whole
- How much your home was worth in January 1999
- The national average HA rent
- The national average HA property value
70% of your rent is based on the number of bedrooms in your
home, the national average HA rent and the average wage in Greater
Manchester in relation to average national earnings.
The other 30% is based on the value of your home in relation to
the national average HA property value and the national average HA
rent.
To prevent any unreasonable increases a system of rent capping
will guarantee that your weekly rent will not increase by more than
£2.00 above the inflation limits set by the Government..
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When will my rent change?
Rent charges are reviewed each year in accordance with
Government guidance. Any changes come into effect in April
and we will write to you at least 28 days before the changes take
place.
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Rent increases and housing benefit
The notification letter will set out your rent charges excluding
housing benefit. If you claim housing benefit, the Council’s
Housing Benefit section will write to you separately to notify you
of your weekly housing benefit entitlement.
You will then need to deduct the amount of your housing benefit
entitlement from the amount of rent due to establish the amount you
need to pay each week.
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Further
information
If you have any queries about rent levels that we have not
answered here, please contact the Rent Accounts team on (0170)
273734.
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