Cost of renting 2019/20

These two tables show what rent we charge for each of type of home.  The rent levels were approved by our Board along with a fair way to move all current tenants towards the target rent for their home.

Annual rent increase

In 2019/20 the rent increase is 2.4%. If your rent is below the target rent you will see an increase of up to £2 per week on top of the 2.4% increase. If you are above the target rent you will see a decrease of up to £2 per week.

Target rent is about making the rent fair for everyone. It will mean that some tenants rent goes up and some tenants’ rent goes down but the overall amount we receive in rent will not change.

Service Charges

If you signed a tenancy agreement with us after Wednesday 27 April 2016 your agreement may also include service charges that you will pay for.

These are the costs of the services we provide which are specific to your home. Your rent includes the cost of things like repairs and improvements whereas service charges are things like communal cleaning and health and safety checks.

You are only charged for services you receive and these are specific to your home.

The costs of certain service charges are covered by Housing Benefit (if you are eligible).

If you are applying for a home with us our staff will explain service charges to you before you sign the tenancy agreement to make sure you understand.

Rent policy

You can read our rent policy here.

What is a bedroom?

Your rent is worked out based on the number of bedrooms that you have in your home. We have used this definition to answer the question ‘what is a bedroom?’. This was to make sure the policy is fair to everyone.

“To count as a bedroom for this assessment the room must have a minimum floor area of five square metres and an opening window that provides natural light and ventilation. The room must have independent access off a hallway, corridor or staircase and cannot be used as a means to access other bedrooms or living rooms in the home or have to be accessed through them. For example, rooms adapted by the provision of through floor access lifts will not be defined by Bron Afon as bedrooms.

“Rooms that have been converted or subdivided by current or former tenants that do not conform to either this definition or the building regulations that apply at the point they subsequently become available for letting will not be regarded as bedrooms and Bron Afon may choose to reinstate homes to their original layout at that point.”

If you think your home has too many or too few bedrooms because of this definition please contact us and we will arrange a survey.