Rent changes

United Welsh is a not-for-profit housing organisation with a social purpose. Rent is our main source of income and we use it to build more affordable homes and to deliver our services, rather than paying profits to shareholders.

As a community landlord, we aim to provide safe, quality homes at lower rents than the private rental sector.

We recently wrote to all our customers who rent a home from us to explain what your rent will be for the 2024/25 financial year, effective from 1^st April 2024.

The 53-week year

We charge our rent every week on a Monday, based on the financial year which runs from 1^st April to 31^st March.

There are normally 52 weeks in a year, which means that if you pay your rent weekly, we charge rent 52 times. Because of how the calendar falls, every five to six years there are 53 weeks in a year instead of 52. This is happening in 2024-25, so there will be an extra week of rent to pay.

I’m on Universal Credit, what do I need to do?

If you receive Universal Credit, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) won’t cover the extra week of rent. The DWP only pays up to 52 weeks of rent per year and works out the weekly rent for those on Universal Credit by taking the total yearly amount and dividing it by 52 weeks. For example, £12,000 per year / 52 weeks = £230 rent per week.

The DWP has confirmed it won’t cover the 53^rd week, meaning you’ll need to cover it yourself.

You will also need to update your UC Journal with your new rent and service charge figures from 1^st April 2024. Follow the instructions in your to-do list to change it to your new rent figure.

If you have any issues, get in touch and our team can help you.

I’m on Housing Benefit, how does this affect me?

If you’re on Housing Benefit, you won’t be impacted by this as it covers every week that is charged.

I pay by standing order, do I need to do anything?

Yes, you’ll need to adjust your payments yourself. If you pay monthly, to work out how much rent you should be paying each month, multiply your weekly rent amount by 53 and divide it by 12.

I pay by Direct Debit. What do I need to do?

If you pay by Direct Debit you don’t need to do anything. We’ll calculate the updated amount and automatically adjust your payments accordingly.

Please get in touch if you are worried about how you will pay your rent and need support.

FAQs

The Welsh Government announced a maximum rent increase this year of 6.7% plus £2 per week. When considering what increase to apply for 2024-25, we looked at a range of factors including value for money and affordability for our residents, especially with rising fuel costs and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Rent increases happen to make sure that we can continue to deliver essential services to our customers, to build new homes, and to continue to invest in and improve existing homes.

Before we set new rent amounts for our customers, we must consider:

Our obligations to Welsh Government about rent setting
Resident feedback on affordability
Our 30-year financial business plan and annual budget setting
Our rent setting policy
Local income and earning levels, and local market rents
Specific property and scheme information (such as demand and energy performance)
Applicable service charges

This information is presented to the United Welsh Board. They have the final decision on rent changes and make sure that it is under the maximum increase amount set by Welsh Government.

For 2024/25, the Welsh Government capped rent increases at 6.7% to the overall rent roll.

We decided to apply the increase at 6.7% due to the challenging economic conditions in which we are delivering services. This is an average increase, so some individual properties may see slightly higher or slightly lower increases. Please note that 6.4% is an average increase, so some individual properties may see slightly higher or slightly lower increases.

Rent pays for:

Work to ensure our buildings comply with safety standards
Repairs and long-term property maintenance such as replacement programmes
Work to improve energy efficiency at homes
Staff and contractor salaries

Our rental income is also used to repay loans for building and maintaining homes. While we receive some grant funding to build new homes, we need additional private finance to cover all the costs. We continue to pay loans on homes we already rent out, as similarly to mortgages, these loans are set over long periods of time.

In September 2023, residents took part in a rent and cost-of-living survey to help us understand our customers’ views on rent, value for money, and the challenges they are facing now.

The majority told us that their rent is affordable and provides value for money. People also suggested that we consider property specifics and location when setting rents.

We offered all residents the opportunity to consult with us about rent setting and we will continue to do this annually.

Providing value for money is really important to us and we work hard with our partners to try to balance the cost of services with affordability. Similarly to rent, setting service charges has been difficult this year due to the cost-of-living crisis and fuel costs.

Service charges are an analysis of the actual costs to provide each service, and they are adjusted to reflect our best estimate of the cost in the following charging period.

Some service charges are varied by the amount that is used and change year to year based on this, such as water and electricity usage.

Some costs are fixed as they cover the actual costs of purchase and installation, or they are fixed but then revised when a contract is reviewed, such as a lift servicing contract.

Some of our other services are more flexible, such as cleaning of communal areas.

We carry out a consultation about service charges with customers every year to help inform changes and to provide value for money.

Our Money Advice team is here to support you with any money problems you may be experiencing. From budgeting advice and help with benefit entitlements, to support with rent, furniture costs or getting lower mobile phone tariffs, the team is here to help. Please get in touch.

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Rent changes

United Welsh is a not-for-profit housing organisation with a social purpose. Rent is our main source of income and we use it to build more affordable homes and to deliver our services, rather than paying profits to shareholders.

The 53-week year

FAQs

Your Data and Privacy Information

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