Stirling councillors back council rent rise

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Stirling councillors have approved a 2.9 per cent rent increase.Stirling Council’s average rent last year was the second lowest of all local authorities in Scotland, and the increase is less than a third the rate of inflation (10.1 per cent).Tenants were consulted in December 2022 on potential rate increases of 2.9 per cent, 3.1 per cent or 3.3 per cent, with 68.99 per cent of residents who responded opting for the 2.9 per cent increase.The average rent will increase by £2.26 per week over the 48-week rental period, from £77.59 in 2022/23 to £79.85 in 2023/24.The council said the rise will raise an additional £656,000 to meet pressures on staffing and inflation costs and support continued investment in new homes and maintaining older homes.A spokesperson said Stirling Council rents are, on average, 26 per cent lower than other social landlords in the local area and 178 per cent lower than the average rents in the private rented sector.The council will now write to tenants to notify them of the new rent charges for their properties for 2023/24.At a special meeting of the council last Thursday, councillors also agreed an £18million investment in the Housing Capital Investment Programme for the next financial year.Around £8m has been earmarked for delivering 75 homes, 45 of which will be new, as part of the Housing Capital Investment Programme.

This will be supported by £4.2m in grant funding from the Scottish Government.A total of £1.5m will be invested in solar panels and battery storage with the majority of this investment targeting installation of solar panels to flats in tenements, increasing the number of council tenants who can benefit from renewable energy.The report also outlined commitments to invest more than