Rent rise agreed by councillors
New rate to start from April
Perth and Kinross Council tenants will face a six per cent increase on their rent from April this year.
The rise works out at an average weekly increase of £4.51, amounting to an average weekly rent of £79.74.
PKC’s housing and social wellbeing committee agreed the rise when the councillors met on Wednesday, January 24.
The decision was made following a consultation with all 8021 tenants in November.
Tenants were sent a survey providing rent setting information and asked to indicate their preferred increase from a choice of three options: six per cent, 6.25 or 6.5 per cent.
A total of 2944 of tenants – almost 37 per cent – responded, with 59 per cent voting for the cheapest option of a six per cent increase.
Tenant representative Lynne Palmer raised concerns to councillors about the increase being higher than previous years and fears tenants on low wages “are going to be struggling”.
While the rent increase may be one of the highest percentage increases in Scotland, a table shared with councillors – predicting the position of PKC when compared with other local authorities – showed local tenants as having one of the lowest council rents in the country.
Moving the report for approval, convener Councillor Tom McEwan praised the work of PKC’s housing team.
The Blairgowrie and Glens SNP elected member said: “The recommended six per cent increase is in line with the views of our tenants based on a record number of tenants who took part in the consultation.”
Cllr McEwan said the number of tenants taking part in the consultation had “doubled since 2017” when he was first elected.
He added: “It’s great to see and it’s through the housing team working differently to
There’s going to be maybe some panicking. The working people - whose wages are low -that’s the key area, they’re going to struggle Lynne Palmer, tenantrepresentative
engage with people, to get the true opinions of our residents on certain issues.”
The report was seconded by SNP Strathmore councillor Jack Welch and unanimously agreed by the committee.
However tenant representative Ms Palmer, who was at the meeting, said: “I’m concerned about the six per cent.
“It’s much more than they’re used to here. “They’re used to something like 2.5, three or sometimes, in the past, four per cent but now it’s six per cent.
“There’s going to be maybe some panicking. The working people – whose wages are low – that’s the key area, they’re going to be struggling.”
Cllr McEwan pledged to take Ms Palmer’s views on board.
Barbara Renton, the council’s executive director of communities, committed to making clear the support available to tenants through the housing team’s partnerships with the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and the council’s welfare rights team.
Mrs Renton said: “I think we just need to get our message even better about the support that collectively we can offer to help people sustain their tenancies and pay their rents.”
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