31st October 2025
Eden Housing Association Proposed Rent Increase – April 2026
At their next meeting, our Board need to decide about what increase to apply to rents next year. We are still waiting for confirmation from the government about what the increase can be, but we are expecting around 4.8%. We think this is the minimum required to keep the business improving homes and meet tenants’ priorities. Our Board are keen to hear what tenants think so they have a clearer picture before considering our recommendation.
Please note: The Government is yet to make a decision around a consultation called social rent convergence. ‘Social Rent convergence’ aims to even out social rent levels across the country, to make them more consistent.
The government is likely to announce their decision as part of the Autumn Budget in November. We will inform tenants once a decision has been made towards the end of this year.
What do you think about a rent increase in April 2026?
How rents are calculated
Before you answer that question, we would like to try and explain a little more about how rents are calculated and what has been happening with rents in the last few years.
As a housing association we can’t just choose to charge what we like. The formula for calculating rents is set by the Government, and they tell us what we can charge. You can view the relevant Government Documents (Rent Standard, Rent Standard guidance and MHCLG Policy Statement) by following this link.
Most commonly, rents have increased every year with increases in charges usually being calculated using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Retail Price Index (RPI), which are common measures of inflation in the UK.
In 2013 the Government announced that in each of the following ten years, we could increase rents by CPI plus 1%. Then in 2015, for the first time ever, the Government made a surprise announcement that we must apply a 1% decrease in each of the following four years instead.
As an example, the table below shows the impact of these calculation changes, starting with rent of £100 per week in 2013, and assuming CPI of 2%:
| Year | Rent (an increase every year of CPI + 1%) | Rent (a 1% decrease 2016-20, then increases) |
| 2013 | £100 | £100 |
| 2014 | £103 | £103 |
| 2015 | £106.09 | £106.09 |
| 2016 | £109.27 | £105.03 |
| 2017 | £112.55 | £103.98 |
| 2018 | £115.93 | £102.94 |
| 2019 | £119.40 | £101.91 |
| 2020 | £122.99 | *£104.67 |
| 2021 | £126.68 | **£106.24 |
| 2022 | £130.48 | *** £110.60 |
| 2023 | £134.39 | **** £118.34 |
| 2024 | £138.42 | ***** £126.62 |
| 2025 | £142.57 | ****** £130.04 |
* Increased by 2.7% from April 2020 / ** increased by 1.5% from April 2021 / *** increased by 4.1% from April 2022/ ****increased by 7% from April 2023 / *****increased by 7% from April 2024 / ******increased by 2.7% from April 2025
The impact of rent changes since 2016
The Government sets standards for how we provide services to our tenants. One of many tests they use to make sure we are doing things responsibly is to check every year that we will have the resources to do everything properly for the next 30 years. We have to have a financial plan that will pay for everything needed (repairs, improvements like new roofs and kitchens etc, and that we have money to build new homes for tenants too).
The rent decrease since April 2016 gave us £2.6million less to spend between 2016 and 2020, and over the 30 years, it has taken £28million out of the pot we expected to have.
The awful Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 has rightly made sure that there is lots of focus on making sure properties are safe – and that has brought new costs too for things like new fire doors etc. We must still buy goods and specialist services to provide services to you. The price of materials, equipment and contractors’ charges have continued to increase with inflation even though we have less money available. Like all housing associations, we have had to make less money stretch further than we have had to before.
It has been challenging at times to provide the same quality of service that we used to provide. Before the rent decrease, we used to put new kitchens and bathrooms in sooner than the Decent Homes Standard set by the Government. Since the rent cut, we are making these improvements in the longer timescales the Government sets out.
We know these changes have sometimes led to increased dissatisfaction, but we also know that despite that, most of the tenants that we ask agree that they would still recommend us to their family or friends. We also know that our tenants value the ‘home for life’ we provide rather than a short six-month tenancy, and that our rents are considerably lower than average rents in the private sector around us.
Since April 2021 we have been able to apply an increase in rent. Last April we increased rents by 2.7% as set by the government
Overall, in 2024/25 we spent £5.9million maintaining and improving existing homes including day-to-day repairs.
We responded to 7,940 reported repairs, of which 1,124 were emergencies, completed 3,037 safety checks on heating systems and electrics and completed the following improvement works:
- 103 new heating systems
- New windows in 55 homes
- New kitchens in 38 homes
Our planned maintenance programme for this year includes:
| Improvement | No. of Homes | Approximate cost |
| Roofing | 25 | £400,000 |
| Windows | 66 | £190,000 |
| Heating* | 110 | £383,000 |
| Kitchen | 70 | £576,000 |
| Fire doors | 40 | £82,000 |
| Doors | 43 | £52,000 |
| Structural & Drainage | n/a | £63,000 |
*does not include new Air Source Heat Pump systems
Upgrades – what’s the cost?
Between 2026 and 2027, we plan to carry out further improvement works across the homes we provide. We use information we hold about our homes to tell us when and where we need to spend money on improvements. Staff make detailed plans each year, based on surveys.
The 30-year plan is based on having rent increases of CPI plus 1% for the next four years. We currently have the following amounts in the overall plan:
|
Improvement |
2025/26
Number of homes / value |
2026/27
Number of homes / value |
||
| Roof | 25 | £400,000 | 25 | £400,000 |
| Kitchen | 70 | £576,000 | 70 | £576,000 |
| Bathroom | 25 | £146,000 | 25 | £146,000 |
| Windows | 60 | £190,000 | 60 | £190,000 |
| Heating* | 110 | £382,665 | 110 | £382,665 |
*different heating types cost very different amounts of money
Current average costs per property are listed here:
| Works | Approximate cost (incl. VAT) per property |
| Full external render | £19,000 |
| Rewire | £7,000 |
| Full external repaint | £1,500 |
| Re-roof | £16,000 |
| Kitchen replacement | £7,000 |
| Bathroom replacement | £3,800 |
| Heating upgrade | £3,500 (Gas) |
| Windows | £3,250 |
| External door | £1,200 per door |
Based on current costings for a three bedroomed property. Costs include pre-repair, all pre-work and additional required cost (e.g. scaffolding).
What will happen in April 2026?
We are still waiting for the Government to tell us how to increase rents next year. We are expecting it will be 4.8%.
Please note: The Government is yet to make a decision around a consultation called social rent convergence. ‘Social Rent convergence’ aims to even out social rent levels across the country, to make them more consistent.
The government is likely to announce their decision as part of the Autumn Budget in November. We will inform tenants once a decision has been made towards the end of this year.
However, based in the information we have, we anticipate our proposed rent increase from April will be around 4.8%.
This table shows what a 4.8% increase means for a range of example rents:
| Current Rent | New Rent in April |
| £80 | £83.84 |
| £90 | £94.32 |
| £100 | £104.80 |
| £110 | £115.28 |
| £120 | £125.76 |
| £130 | £136.24 |
This rent increase will provide the money to allow us to deliver the home improvements we need to, and to maintain our other repairs and maintenance services.
Our Board are keen to hear what tenants think so they have a clearer picture before considering our recommendation.
Tell us what you think about the 2026 Rent Increase, by completing our survey:
If you add your contact details, we’ll enter you in a draw for £50 vouchers to spend locally – you’ll receive them before the end of November, ready for Christmas!
