Council housing rents across West Northamptonshire set to rise by nearly five percent in April 2026
Council housing rents in West Northamptonshire are set to rise from April 2026, as the council has proposed an almost five percent increase in its draft budgets.
The plans to increase social rents by 4.8 percent, alongside an identical rise in service charges, garage rents and commuter surcharges, will be discussed at a cabinet meeting next week on December 22 at the same time as the draft budget and council tax increases.
If approved, tenants will see the average weekly rent rise by £5.51, from £114.80 to £120.31. Council officers have explained that the increase is in line with the Government’s Rent Standard and would ensure continued investment in essential housing services, which is funded from the ring-fenced Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget.
The council is in charge of the management, maintenance and improvement of more than 11,000 council homes. The proposed investment includes £78.6 million through the HRA capital programme, supporting new build housing, estate improvements, heating upgrades and disabled adaptations.
Under its new capital programme, the council pledged to spend £359.6 million in housing investment, ensuring sustained improvements to homes, estates and community facilities by 2031.
Councillor John Slope, cabinet member for finance, said: “We are entering an important period as we move housing services back under the direct control of the council.
“This draft budget ensures that we can continue to invest substantially in our homes, meet our responsibilities to tenants, and strengthen the long-term resilience of the service. Delivering safe, high-quality and sustainable homes remains a fundamental priority for West Northamptonshire.”
As part of the housing services transition, cabinet will also consider the proposed management fee for Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) of £70.1 million. This covers the final year of the current arrangements, ensuring funding is in place to support the move of enabler services back in-house.
The council self-referred to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in 2024, resulting in a C3 grading in November 2024, which means there are serious failings in the service and significant improvement is needed.
The failings identified formed part of the reason why the council made the decision earlier this year to bring NPH back in-house, at a one-off cost of £1.6 million purely on the transfer of services.
A breakdown of costs shows that it would be spent on many aspects, including project and programme management for the service switch, as well as £175,000 on the rebranding of uniforms, vehicles and stationery, £165,000 on legal advice, and £10,000 on additional engagement with tenants.
It also notes savings of £84,000 through a reduction in management costs from releasing the NPH Board and streamlining HR and payroll software across both organisations.
It is also noted in the business case for the transfer, obtained by the LDRS through a Freedom of Information request, that there is a separate piece of work in WNC on office optimisation to identify suitable alternative accommodation for the entire housing team due to the current NPH hub at Westbridge being unsuitable for long-term office use.
As of the year-end 2024-25, the proportion of non-decent council properties was just under 20 percent. NPH currently project that the proportion of non-decent properties will be reduced to eight percent by the end of the current financial year, with the rest to be brought up to standard in 2026/27 at an estimated cost of £2.2 million.
If approved, the proposals will go out for public consultation and run for six weeks until February 3, 2026. All financial plans for 2026/27 will be debated and go to full council for approval later that month.