Sheffield Council tenants facing 4.8% rise in rent - plus £2 extra a week
Under the new rules, landlords such as Sheffield City Council will be allowed to increase rents every year
Sheffield council tenants can expect to pay an extra £2 a week rent from April on top of their annual increase as the government introduces a set formula for social housing rent rises.
Under the new rules, landlords such as Sheffield City Council will be allowed to increase rents every year by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation, plus 1%.
A CPI level of 3.8% in September 2025 means the rise from April would be 4.8% in total.
A process of social rent convergence would allow the rents for properties that are currently below ‘formula rent’ levels to increase by an additional amount each year, over and above the CPI+1% limit, until they ‘converge’ with the formula rent.
The government has deferred its final decision on the changes to this month. If it sticks to its announced plans, the council wants to introduce a rent convergence figure of £2 a week, generating an extra £3.4m income, said Kerry Darlow, council assistant director for finance and business partnering.
The council’s finance and performance policy committee yesterday (January 19) discussed the housing revenue account (HRA) budget. This allocates income from council rents to cover the full cost of running council homes, including repairs.
A report to the committee said: “Decades of under-investment,
combined with escalating costs, have rendered the current council
housing financial model increasingly unsustainable.
“Rising demand for social housing places additional strain on already limited resources, while repair services face mounting pressures to meet higher
expectations and growing needs.
“These challenges are compounded by significant increases in maintenance and operational costs, creating a financial environment that is difficult to manage without substantial reform or additional funding.”
Other issues that require increased spending include Awaab’s Law, introduced last year after two-year-old Awaab Ishak died after prolonged exposure to mould in his home.
Social housing landlords have to address all emergency hazards and all damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm to tenants in fixed timeframes.
The cost of the total pressures on the HRA is £20.9m. As the HRA has to have a balanced budget by law, this has been covered by £17.9m additional income and just under £3m in savings.
An extra £2m has been set aside for 2026/7 to cover the expected increased demand for the repairs and maintenance service.
The report outlines the council’s key priorities for housing investment:
Improving the day-to-day repairs service;
Tackling damp, mould and condensation in council homes, raising
awareness and delivering remedial action;
Making homes safer by improving council health and safety and building
compliance;
Creating greener, more energy-efficient homes, reducing fuel poverty;
Proactive neighbourhood management, challenging anti-social behaviour, neighbour nuisance, and tenancy breaches;
Making neighbourhoods more attractive, including making shared
areas more welcoming;
Increasing opportunities for tenants to get involved in shaping services,
“allowing tenants to challenge us and help us to improve”.
Councillors heard that the aim over the next three years is to get investment in the council’s housing stock up to the level that it needs to be at, in line with similar councils. This should start to reduce the level of repairs needed to be made to the council’s ageing housing stock.
The HRA will be discussed by the strategy and resources committee on Wednesday (January 21). It will then go for a final decision to the next full council meeting on February 4.