Rent and Service Charge Increase 2022

March 2022

From Monday 4th April 2022, rent will be increasing by 4.1%. This increase ensures that Aspire Housing can meet the rising costs of managing, maintaining, and building homes.

Find more about our service charge here. 

This year we will launch our new five-year commitment to invest in existing homes, which will see us spend more than £100 million on improvements, repairs and cyclical work.

In the next year alone we plan to spend almost £20 million, of which £13 million will be on upgrades to existing homes, this is £5 million more than the previous year.

• This will see residents benefit from a range of investment in homes, including 430 kitchens, 122 bathrooms, 691 boilers, 747 electrical upgrades and rewires, 97 front and back doors and 168 new roofs.
• We will also be investing in the environment around our homes including 20 new communal entrance doors to flat blocks. 
• We will share further details of our programme with you in the forthcoming months on our website and social media. For 2022/23 this will be available from April 2022 and our five year plan by the end of June 2022.
• We also continue to work on improving our maintenance service and work towards a ‘first time fix’ on repairs.

New homes

In 2022/23 we will add over 230 new homes. This will include our new scheme at Holborn Place in Newcastle town centre, which will provide 89 new homes and is due to complete in Autumn of this year. Stanton Close in Knutton and The Sidings in Silverdale are also due to complete towards the end of the year.

What support is available?
We understand that an increase in your rent and the additional rises you may be experiencing on other living costs can have an impact, so we’re here to help. Our Money Advice Team can provide advice on checking benefits, helping with budgets and general advice on how to make the most of your money. Please contact us for more information.
As one of our customers, you are also eligible for free access to our Aspire to Work service, which can help with CV
writing, confidence boosting, the cost of professional qualifications and general support into employment and training.

Ways to pay your rent

You can pay your rent a few different ways:

• Securely online, using ‘My Account’ here. 
• By Direct Debit – this is the option preferred by most of our customers as it’s easy to arrange and simple to keep track of. To arrange to pay by Direct Debit login to our portal or give us a call on 01782 635200.
• Bank Payment – just arrange with your bank to set up the payment, which will go into our account automatically every week. Our bank details can be found on your rent letter. 

If you claim Housing Benefit we will let the council know about the changes to your rent and service charges. They will write to you before the end of March to let you know how much Housing Benefit you will receive. If your Housing Benefit isn't as much as the full weekly charge you need to arrange to pay the difference.

If you claim Universal Credit you'll need to update your online journal. You will receive a prompt in your journal to update your housing costs. These need to be done on or soon after 4th April. If this is not completed in the April assessment period you will not receive enough Universal Credit to cover your rent.

If you have any questions regarding the rent and service charge increases, try our live web chat where you will be connected to a member of our team.