January 2003

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COUNCIL PLEDGE TO TENANTS ON SERVICE STANDARDS AND RENT RISES

Highland council house tenants are being asked to have their say on a five-year business plan which sets out The Highland Council' s aims for maintaining and improving houses and meeting the standards that tenants expect.

The draft plan outlines Council priorities on repairs, rent levels, rent collection, house improvements as well as service standards, such as re-letting empty homes, tenancy management and customer care.  It has been prepared following the Council's decision to retain ownership and management of its stock of 16,500 houses rather than transfer the stock to registered social landlords, such as housing associations.

Tenants have been given a summary of the plan in a special edition of the Highland Tenant newsletter, which will be arriving through letter boxes in the coming days. Included is a feedback form, which invites tenants to have their say by 28 February.

In the plan the Council has promised its tenants that there will be no surprises in store when rent increases are fixed over the next five years. The Council has agreed that increases will be pegged each year at the rate of inflation plus 1%. For example, the rent increase recommended for the new financial year which begins on 1 April is 3.8% (a Retail Price Index of 2.8% plus 1%), which will see the average rent rise by �1.82 per week.

Councillor Garry Coutts, Chairman of the Housing and Social Work Committee, said, "We will be posting copies of our newsletter to every council house tenant to explain our plans for the future of council housing in the Highlands and to set out the standards of service we want to achieve.  We value strongly the views of tenants and would encourage them to respond to our feedback form on our Business Plan."

He said the Council recognised that rents should be affordable and to achieve this  rent increases would be limited  to 1% above the rate of inflation for the next five years."  In the past, rent increases were unpredictable and could be as high as 9%.  Tenants will now know exactly where they stand and can budget accordingly.  Some landlords adopt of policy of charging higher rents on properties which have been improved or modernised. We don't plan to do this as we don't think it would be fair, particularly as our rents are currently above the Scottish average due to the high level of debt we face as a Council."

He said the Council was planning an investment programme of around �12.4 million a year over the next five years.  Also detailed is the standards of service the Council aims to provide to match what is expected of it by tenants.  This includes ensuring that repairs are completed on time; that housing applications are dealt with promptly and empty homes relet quickly;  that reasonable payment arrangements are made with tenants, who are in arrears; and that advice is freely available on welfare benefits or debt counselling.