Siân Gwenllian to publish details of social landlords’ rent and service charge returns 

The Welsh housing minister has confirmed that landlords are allowed to increase social rents by a maximum of 4% in the next financial year.

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Siân Gwenllian, Welsh cabinet minister for local government, housing and planning.

This uplift is in line with the usual calculations of the consumer price index (CPI) + 0.5%, given September’s CPI was 3.5%, as published by the Office for National Statistics.

In a written statement, Plaid Cymru’s Siân Gwenllian said: “I am content that this cap keeps affordability for tenants at the centre of our social rent policy whilst providing stability and certainty for social landlords to deliver on our Programme for Government commitments.

“I recognise that we continue to operate amid considerable economic volatility and uncertainty. High inflation, cost-of-living pressures and constrained public finances underscore the need to keep affordability central to rent-setting decisions. In this context I would stress that this is the maximum permitted annual increase, it is not an automatic uplift for social landlords to apply.”

Gwenllian added that she will publish a report on rent and service charge monitoring returns submitted by social landlords to improve transparency and accountability across the sector, though no publication date has yet been set.

 

 

 

 

 

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