CouncilHow your rent is set
We calculate your council rent using a formula set by the government, taking into account various factors:
- The average manual wages in Greater London
- The value of your home
- The number of bedrooms in your home.
Could my rent be different to my neighbours?
Yes. If you have more bedrooms than your neighbours, or if your property is valued higher because, for example, it has a garden, you could pay more rent than your neighbours.
The rent may be different for identical homes in different locations, as location is a factor in estimating the value of a property.
What is rent restructuring?
In 2000 the government introduced changes, known as rent restructuring. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets introduced rent restructuring from 2002/03 for all its properties.
The government has decided that all social landlords (councils and housing associations) must start to calculate their rent charges in the same way.
This means that Tower Hamlets Council, along with all the housing associations in the borough, must change the way we calculate our tenants’ rent. This process is called rent restructuring.
Rent restructuring is designed to ensure that all council and housing association tenants are charged a fair rent, based on consistent principles.
The changes will take up to 10 years to fully implement (and in some cases longer). However, eventually, two tenants living in similar properties in a similar area should be paying a similar rent, whoever their landlord is.
How will my rent and housing benefit be affected by these changes?
Some rents will increase by more than inflation, others by less than inflation. Other rents may even reduce.
However, the government has decided that nobody’s rent will increase or decrease by more than £2 per week in any one year, after taking inflation into account. This is why it will take up to 10 years to achieve similar rents for councils and housing associations.
If you receive full housing benefit, you will continue to have all of your rent paid, as long as your circumstances don’t change.
If your housing benefit only covers part of your rent, then the amount you receive is likely to change, depending on whether your rent goes up or down.
Contact us & further information
Contact rent account officers
Tel: 020 7364 2741
Tel: 020 7364 3853
Tel: 020 7364 3854
Tel: 020 7364 3851
Fax: 020 7364 6060
E-mail: rents@towerhamletshomes.org.uk
For any other issues you may have concerning your tenancy agreement, please contact your nearest local housing office.
We also have a support service for tenants who are not coping very well on their own.
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