No rent increase for Andium Homes tenants this year

Friday 31 August 2018

States social housing tenants will avoid a significant rent hike this year, after concerns about rises in the cost of living led to a price freeze.

The Board of Andium Homes decided to defer the annual rent uplift due in October, which would have caused a 5.25% increase, in line with the States' Rent Policy.

The current rent policy involves increasing rents in line with inflation - this year at 4.5% - then adding 0.75%.

Andium said that the deferral was intended to give Ministers and social housing providers time to agree on a sustainable and fair States’ Rent Policy in the future.

The Andium Homes’ Board has decided to defer the annual rent uplift due in October, which if implemented in line with current States’ Rent Policy, would have caused an increase in rent of 5.25% for tenants. https://t.co/pJ8pSnaYl3

— Andium Homes (@Andiumhomes) August 31, 2018

Both the Minister for Children and Housing, Senator Sam Mézec, and the Minister for Treasury and Resources, Deputy Susie Pinel, have shown support for the deferment.

Deputy Pinel has also agreed a similar delay in the increase in the annual return paid by Andium Homes to the States, which currently stands at £28.8 million.

Ian Gallichan, Chief Executive of Andium Homes, said: “We recognised that the June RPI at 4.5% would have caused, under the current States’ Rent Policy, an annual increase in rent of 5.25% for our tenants."

Pictured: Children's and Housing Minister Senator Sam Mézec was supportive of the proposals, alongside Treasury Minister Deputy Susie Pinel.

"Clearly, the Andium Homes’ Board was concerned on their behalf, and given the subsequent publication of the Average Earnings Index at 3.5%, we strongly recommended to Ministers that the current calculation method for rent uplifts needs review," he said.

The June RPI showed that housing, motoring, household and leisure services were the largest contributors to the overall annual increase of 4.5%.

This was the greatest annual rate of increase in more than six years.

Housing costs rose by 5.1% in the year ending June 2018, with price increases seen across house purchase costs, rents, dwelling insurance, water charges (increased in April 2018) and Island-wide and Parish rates (increased in September 2017).