Fife Council rent up by average of £4.12 a week from April

An average increase of £4.12 a week was agreed last Thursday after a 38-30 vote.

This will take the average weekly rent for a council home to £86.53 - an SNP amendment arguing for a four per cent rise was defeated.

Councillor Judy Hamilton, the housing spokesperson, said: "We are on the brink of a housing emergency here in Fife and the rent increase we are introducing is lower than most other councils are implementing.

Housing spokesperson, Labour councillor Judy Hamilton. (Image: Fife Council)

"However, that means there will still be a gap in the budget and this year we will be dipping into reserves to avoid that bigger increase for tenants."

Rent also rose by five per cent last year.

The estimated budget gap for the Housing Revenue Account in 2024-25 is £7m which was blamed on "unusually high inflation", rapid increase in costs and a series of below inflation rent increases over the last five years.

She said 87 per cent of tenants said their rent was "good value for money" and that the amount people will be paying will remain below the Fife Living Rent.

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It was pointed out that roughly two thirds of those who rent a council home receive additional support through housing benefit and / or receive Universal Credit and would not be affected by the increase.

For the remaining one third, a £1.5m tenant support fund would help those who experience financial difficulty.

SNP councillor Brian Goodall. (Image: Fife Council)

SNP councillor Brian Goodall said: "An above inflation rent increase in the midst of a cost of living crisis is not justifiable and the SNP amendment shows it's not needed."

His colleagues said that Labour's plans would push more people into rent arrears which were already "increasing dramatically".

Cllr Hamilton said the rate of inflation they had to go by was September's figure of 8.9 per cent and added that the SNP amendment of a four per cent rise would leave a budget gap of £1.7m.

She said that to make those savings would require "significant cuts in services or huge rent rises going forward".

The council have around 31,000 tenants who were consulted between December and January on options of five, six and seven per cent increases.

There were 1,237 responses with 69 per cent backing the lowest rise.

Tenants listed the top priorities for the year ahead as housing improvements, home energy efficiency improvements and new-build housing.

The minority Labour administration's plans include £43m for repairs and change of tenancies, £2.6m for supporting tenants and estate improvements, and £8.2m for garden care, retirement complexes, high-rise blocks and hostels.

Last month Cllr Hamilton said Fife was on the brink of declaring a housing emergency as they were facing "extreme housing and homelessness pressures".

Increasing 'buy-backs' of ex-council properties and bringing empty homes back into use are measures that will help, but building new homes was the most effective way of tackling the problems, with 7,400 affordable homes built in Fife since 2012.

However, she said the affordable housing programme was "at risk" due to the proposed 26 per cent cut in funding from the Scottish Government.

Cllr Hamilton also said that Fife has a "very proud history" of supporting refugees and the council's housing services had helped the Kingdom to host "one of the largest cohorts of Ukrainians".

The Labour councillor added that 33 families from Afghanistan will be moving into MoD accommodation in Leuchars and Rosyth this year.