Tenants Rent and Service Charges Review 2025

This year, tenants' rents will go up by 2.7%. This follows the Regulator of Social Housing’s formula (September CPI + 1%). Inflation in September was lower than expected, so the increase is smaller than in recent years. 

Social and Affordable rents are based on inflation, which slowed as prices in shops, along with energy and fuel costs, became more stable. As you can appreciate, the inflation rate can go up and down. 

The rent increase will help us keep rents affordable while making sure we can continue to repair and improve homes, build new ones, and provide essential support services. 

However, we know times are tough, and many people are struggling with money. That’s why we’re here to help with our Wellbeing Fund and Successful Tenancies money, benefits and jobs advice. 

Find out more here.

Please note: 

• If you have a Social Rent tenancy agreement, this increase only applies to the rent you pay for your home.
• If you have an Affordable Rent tenancy agreement, this increase applies to both the affordable rent you pay for your home and any eligible service charges you need to pay as listed in your annual rent and service charge review letter.  

The social rent you pay (either weekly or monthly) is calculated based on the social housing rent formula and inflation. This formula considers factors such as the size, location, and value of your home, as well as local income levels. 

The affordable rent you pay (either weekly or per calendar month) is typically up to 80% of the market rent charged by private landlords for a similar home in the same area and inflation. This calculation considers factors such as its size and location. 

Your rent is the amount we charge you to live in your home. It also covers the cost of insuring the basic structure of your home or building. It does not cover insurance for your personal belongings. 

To ensure your furniture, carpets and personal belongings are covered, we strongly recommend that you get home contents insurance. 

 You can find more information here. 

Your rent charge includes the amount we charge you to live in your home, along with any eligible services charges. You will need to pay any ineligible service charges.  

It also covers the cost of insuring the basic structure of your home or building. It does not cover insurance for your personal belongings. 
 
To ensure your furniture, carpets and personal belongings are covered, we strongly recommend that you get home contents insurance. 

You can find more information here.

In the first year of your tenancy, we review your rent once. After that, we review it every year. Any changes to service charges will happen at the same time. We’ll give you one month’s written notice of any changes. 

Universal Credit 

If you receive Universal Credit, please access your online DWP journal, select ‘confirm your housing costs’ and enter the new figures outlined in this letter. Failure to report changes may result in your housing costs being incorrectly assessed.  

Please only update your journal on or after the increase date and when you receive a ‘to-do’ notification from Universal Credit. 

Housing Benefit 

If you receive Housing Benefit directly and then pay us, you will need to inform your local authority of the change in your rent. If your Housing Benefit is paid directly to us, we will update the local authority and they will send you a new award letter.  

It’s your responsibility to check that the details are correct and if there are any mistakes, contact your local authority to resolve the issue. 

Direct Debit 

If you pay by Direct Debit, you don't need to take any action. You will soon receive a letter from Allpay confirming the new amount to be collected. If you haven't received this letter by 31 March 2025, please let us know. 

Standing Order 

If you pay by Standing Order, you will need to contact your bank or building society and ask them to update your payment to the new amount starting from April 2025. 

If your home has shared areas like an entrance hall, garden, or other communal spaces, your tenancy will include a service charge. 

A service charge is the amount you pay towards the cost of providing a service, including heating, electricity, cleaning, gardening, maintenance, and door entry systems. It may also cover the cost of a specific service like a lift or emergency call system. 

If you pay service charges, your annual rent review letter will include a breakdown of these charges. 

Here are some examples of common services that may be included in your service charge: 

• Cleaning/caretaking: Cleaning and maintaining shared areas like halls, stairs, and rubbish chutes.
• Gardening and grounds maintenance: Tasks like mowing the grass, weeding and litter picking.
• Door entry system: Costs for maintaining and repairing the entry phone systems in buildings.
• Management/Admin fee: A flat fee to cover staff costs and overheads for preparing service charge estimates and accounts.
• Lighting: Costs for lighting in shared communal areas, including replacing lightbulbs.
• Lifts: Maintenance and repairs for lifts in the building.
• Concierge: Costs for staff providing support and services in the building. 

If you live in one of our retirement or supported housing schemes, your service charge may include costs for staff, such as Retirement Housing Officers, Wellbeing Advisors, Activity Co-ordinators, and Youth Development Coaches, or for maintaining communal areas like laundry rooms, and shared lounges. 

If we deliver a service that is shared by several customers, your service charge is calculated by dividing the total cost between everyone who has use of or benefits from it. 

A service charge is based on what it actually costs us to provide the service to you. Costs can go up or down depending on inflation and market conditions, and we work hard to get the best value for money from our contractors and manage services efficiently.  

Each year we review service charges to make sure you only pay for the services you receive and that each service charge is accurate and fair. 

If you live in one of our retirement or supported housing schemes, some services have cost more to provide than we’ve previously charged. To keep increases reasonable, we've capped service charge increases so your total/weekly services charges won’t go up by more than £5.75 per week or £25 per month. 

Here is an example: 

The total increase would have been £30.00; however, the discretionary cap is limiting the monthly increase to £25.00 

If you pay for any service charges, they are listed the Service Charge section of your annual rent review letter. 
 

If you are a tenant and are renting your home from us, the day-to-day repairs costs of your home are included in your rent. Communal repair costs are included in service charges. 

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit are both designed to assist people with housing costs, but the eligibility for services under these benefits can vary depending on your personal situation, the type of housing you live in, and your specific lease or tenancy agreement. 

For example, if your home has two bedrooms, your service charge could be higher than someone with one bedroom and Universal Credit doesn’t cover the cost of window cleaning for ground floor properties. 

Which service charges are eligible or ineligible is determined by your local authority (for Housing Benefit) or Department of Work and Pensions (for Universal Credit).

If you claim Housing Benefit or Universal Credit some service charges are covered within your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit payment. 

Ineligible service charges are not covered by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, so you need to pay for these.  

Which service charges are eligible or ineligible is determined by your local authority (for Housing Benefit) or Department of Work and Pensions (for Universal Credit).  

Following customer feedback, we have reviewed all service charge headings and the way we describe them to make it easier for you to understand what you are paying for.  

Don’t worry if the way we describe some of your service charges has changed. We’ve updated the headers and descriptions to make it easier for you to understand what you’re paying for. We’ve also added a number of new service charge categories for better clarity. 

Linked below is a list of services that includes all the service charge headings, along with easy read descriptions.

Click here to download the table

If you have any queries or concerns about any of the services you receive, please call our Customer Hub on 0333 200 7304 or email info@platformhg.com. 

Whether we provide your services or employ contractors to deliver them on our behalf, we always aim to deliver the very best that we can.  

If you have any queries or concerns about any of the services you receive, please call our Customer Hub on 0333 200 7304 or email info@platformhg.com.