Residents

Frequently Asked Questions about Cannock Chase Council’s Social Housing Rent Increase 2020/21

Why are you increasing my rent? 

We fully understand that any increase to your rent will not be good news. A revised rent setting policy for social landlords for the next 5 years was announced by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on 4 October 2017, whereby increases to social housing rents will be limited to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1% annually from April 2020. The CPI rate used will be from the September of the previous financial year as set out in the Government’s rent standard.

Therefore rents set in April 2020 are allowed to be increased by an amount up to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) set in September 2019, which was 1.7%, plus 1%.

We have given the rent increase a lot of thought and we believe that in order to deliver our priorities as set out in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan we need to maximise the money we receive from rents and therefore need to apply the maximum increase of CPI plus 1%, i.e. 2.7%.

Why did my rent go down the past few years?

In the Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced that rents in social housing tenancies would be reduced by 1% every year from April 2016 to March 2020, which was clearly welcomed by tenants but presented a significant financial challenge to the Council. This 4 year annual rent reduction was implemented through the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.

Do you have to increase my rent? 

No, we don’t have to increase your rent; we could leave it as it is. However, this would mean spending less on our housing stock. Within our HRA Business Plan for 2020/21 we have budgeted for the rent increase from April 2020, which means we can deliver our promises to build more new homes, improve our neighbourhoods and invest in our existing Council homes. If we keep your rent as it is we simply cannot deliver on these priorities and we would have to make some tough choices to either build fewer new homes, to invest less in existing Council homes, or do less in your neighbourhoods - and we don’t think this would be fair.

By how much are you increasing my rent and how have you calculated this? 

As explained above, Rents will increase by CPI +1%, that is 1.7% plus 1% which equals 2.7%. We will write to you at the end of February to confirm how much your weekly rent payment will be for 2020/21.  

What will you spend the additional rental income on? 

We have set out in our HRA Business Plan what we want to achieve over the next 3 years.  The additional money we are able to raise from rents means we are on track to deliver these objectives. We will keep you informed regularly on how we are performing against the HRA Business Plan in the Annual Report to Tenants and the Hometalk magazine.

Will I see any benefits in my home and local community? 

Absolutely, the reason we are applying the rent increase is so that you will see benefits to your own home but also in your wider neighbourhood and estates.

The HRA business plan contains programmes for improving the existing stock: replacement of kitchens and bathrooms, replacement/upgrades of central heating systems, upgrading of electrical systems; the building of new Council homes; and environmental improvements works on estates.

What do I do if I can’t afford the increase? 

Our priority is to support tenants to sustain their tenancies and we want to help prevent rent arrears or other debts. We have a dedicated Tenancy Sustainment Service and Income Management Team working alongside the local Citizens Advice team who are trained to ensure you have maximised your benefits, help you manage your finances and support you through changes to income or circumstances.   

Please take advantage of this service now to help you prepare well ahead of the rent increase.

Your tenancy agreement states that you pay your rent in advance. 

Can I have a breakdown of how you will spend my rent? 

We commit to providing a full breakdown of how we spend your rent over the next 12 months. We will do this in our Annual Report to Tenants, which we will be delivered alongside your copy of Hometalk magazine, and also published on our website.

Can I have a Rent Statement? 

Currently you can view your rent statement at any time online by registering on the Council website, ‘Self Service’. You can see the balance on each of your accounts, along with the current charge details. If you wish to see a full statement, click on the link against the account and it will show you all of your transactions.  If you do not have a computer or electronic device you can contact the Income Management Team on 01543 464288 and they will send you a rent statement.

N.B- ‘Self Service’ is changing to Housing-on-line in May 2020

I claim Universal Credit: will I have to re-apply and will this result in weeks of delays in my rent being paid and accumulating rent arrears? 

We appreciate that completing a Universal Credit claim can be very stressful and facing weeks of delays for any benefit payment is something we want to avoid. Please be assured you will not have to complete a brand new claim with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Once we write to inform you about your new rent you will simply need to inform them of this via the DWP portal (under ‘Your Journal’ just upload proof of the letter) or by visiting your local Job Centre after the rent increase has been applied. It is important that you do this soon after 1 April 2020 as we will then be asked to verify the increase on the Landlord portal. Please inform the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in your assessment period.   

What if Universal Credit doesn’t cover the rent increase? 

If your Universal Credit allowance doesn’t cover the additional rent increase, we strongly recommend that you make an appointment to see a member of our Income Management Team or contact Citizens Advice who can help you budget for the increase or establish if DWP have including your new rent in your assessment.

I don’t claim benefits; do I have to adjust my Direct Debit mandate with my bank or will you do this automatically for me? 

You don’t need to worry, your Direct Debit will be adjusted automatically by our Income Management Team – you don’t have to do anything. When we write to you at the end of February notifying you of your rent increase, we will tell you this. 

I don’t pay by Direct Debit; do I have to adjust my standing order with my bank?

You will need to work out your new rent payments to change your standing order or your regular payments.

For example how to work out monthly rent - Week rent of £71.00 x 52 weeks = yearly rent £3,692 divide by 12 is the monthly rent £307.67

We strongly recommend that you contact our Income Management Team who can help work out how much you should be paying and when.

What is the timescale for this rent increase? 

The new rent increase notice letters informing you of the rent increase will be sent out to you with a minimum of one month’s notice. We will usually aim to have the letters delivered by the end of February and the beginning of March 2020.

Rent increases will apply from 1 April 2020

You can take part in our rent consultation below. Your responses are, and will remain, anonymous.

If you would like to make any comments on the proposed rent increase or have any further questions then please contact the Income Management Team on:

Telephone: 01543 462621

Email: rents@cannockchasedc.gov.uk

Last Updated: 14/02/2020

A new campaign addressing extremism and radicalisation is launching in schools across the District this week as part of the Council’s safeguarding work.

The Council’s Community Safety Team has commissioned Loudmouth Education & Training to create and deliver a brand new theatre in education programme on extremism to students in Year 8 and 9. The programme will consist of a 30 minute piece of interactive drama followed by workshops. The workshops will use the drama to encourage further discussions in a safe environment.

Last Updated: 28/01/2020

Council Civic Centre opening times over the Chrismas and New Year period are as follows:

Out Of Hours Emergency calls

If you have an Out of Hours emergency call during Christmas and the New Year please dial the Council’s main number 01543 462621.
Your call will be transferred to our Out of Hours team.
In the unlikely event that your call is not answered after 15 minutes please dial 01527 67666.  This facility must only be used should your call not be answered after 15 minutes.
 

Last Updated: 24/12/2019

It's time to change the way we think and act about mental health...

Time to Change is a social movement to change the way people think and act about mental health problems. Still, too many people are made to feel ashamed or isolated because they have a mental health problem.

A number of initiatives are being delivered in communities, workplaces and schools to help people open up to mental health. Get involved by visiting the Time to Change website.

The Council continues to support this initiative and other national campaigns to help its employees and local community improve and maintain their mental health and wellbeing.

Last Updated: 10/12/2019

Following on from planning consent CH/18/268 approved in October 2018 for the demolition of Rugeley Power Station, the Council has received an outline application for the redevelopment of the Rugeley Power Station site. The proposed development will deliver up to 2,300 No. Residential Dwellings, up to 5 hectares (ha) of employment land, up to 3.2 ha of ground mounted solar panels, up to 1.2 ha of mixed use development comprising community facilities including 2 form entry primary school, associated access and supporting amenity space, landscaping, green infrastructure and sustainable drainage systems.

The application is accompanied by a large range of documents including an Environmental Statement and appendices which can be viewed in full on the Council’s main application website here.  The application reference number is CH/19/201.  Please quote this in all correspondence in connection with the application.

In order to assist with the publicity of the application, the Council has selected key documents that are likely to be of interest to most people. These are published on this page as well as the main application page for ease of reference. These documents include:

Last Updated: 14/11/2019

The Council has joined forces with environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy to launch #BintheButt to stamp out cigarette litter, which causes significant damage to marine life. 

The Council is calling on smokers to rethink how they dispose of their cigarettes, as research reveals that only half (53%) of Brits know that cigarette butts get washed into the sea if they are dropped down the drain.

The campaign ‘Flicking Blue Murder’ will be rolled out across the District to tackle this problem. Promotional material including posters, beermats, outdoor banners and digital advertising will be displayed in local pubs, schools, parks and town centres.

Local pubs will also be offered additional wall mounted ashtrays to encourage smokers to bin their butts rather than simply flicking them on the ground.

In addition to this, the Council has installed a ballot bin in Cannock town centre to tackle the problem of cigarette butt littering with further ballot bins being installed in Hednesford and Rugeley town centres in the coming weeks.

The ballot bins will display a question and two answers. Smokers vote by putting their cigarette butt in the slot underneath their preferred answer. The litter stacks up behind the clear glass columns showing which answer is the most popular.

It is hoped by using interactive and gamification it will bring about positive behaviour change towards the environment. This has been supported by an independent evaluation which shows that using the ballot bin approach reduces littering of cigarette butts by 46% in the surrounding area.

Following Sir David Attenborough’s rallying cry to reduce plastic waste on Blue Planet 2, #BinTheButt aims to show how simple everyday behavior can affect the environment.

As the research suggests, cigarette butts are the most common form of litter that are dropped onto our streets everyday. While flicking a cigarette down the drain may not seem harmful, we need to ensure smokers understand that this has a direct and often drastic impact on wildlife.

It is hoped this campaign will encourage smokers to #BinTheButt and stop the flow of plastic, toxic cigarette butts getting into our rivers and oceans.

For more information about this campaign and how you can support it, visit the Keep Britain Tidy website.

Read a full copy of the Council's press release here.

Last Updated: 27/06/2019