A new scheme for council properties in Cardiff will be introduced next year.
Following a recent review, a new system has been developed so that a fair rent is charged to all council properties across the city, with affect from April 2011.
The system will be more streamlined as currently, there is a wide variation of charges. For example, there are 66 different rent values for three bedroom houses in the city, ranging from £61.78 to £94.50.
Under the new system, rent for 8, 499 council properties would decrease while charges for 4,849 properties would increase. The new charges will be phased in and any increases in the first year will be capped to £3 a week per annum plus any inflationary increases. Sheltered properties have been excluded from this review and a separate consultation will take place in due course.
A detailed consultation on the rental charges took place over the summer, involving tenants, councillors, Assembly Members and MPs. Feedback from the process showed that 88 per cent of respondents agreed that the rent for a house should be higher than for a flat and 83 per cent of those who took part in the survey agreed that properties with more bedrooms should have a higher rent charge.
There are a number of historical reasons for the large variety of rents across the city including local government reorganisation which brought properties into Cardiff on lower rent levels. Similar anomalies have been experienced by other councils in Wales and several have acted recently to put these right.
Executive Member for Housing, Communities and Social Justice, Cllr Judith Woodman, said: “My thanks go to all those who took part in this consultation as those views helped us to develop a better and fairer charging system for all the council properties in the city.”
