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Rent Rise Concern from Onchan Commissioners

Tue, 18 Sep 2018

For a second consecutive year, Onchan Commissioners have recommended that tenants in local government housing shouldn’t face a rent rise.

It comes after the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) wrote to local authorities across the Island, asking for feedback on what they believe a suitable change should be.

The commissioners first considered the issue earlier this month, and affirmed their position at a meeting last night (17 September).

Members hold the view that rents have increased ‘dramatically’ since 2013, ‘due to the Tolson Review and revised rent pointing scheme, and above inflation rises in subsequent years have increased the burden on tenants’.

In a letter to the department, the Board also points to the disparity between rent increases and average pay increases to justify its position.

Onchan Commissioners join Castletown Commissioners in recommending a 0% increase in local authority housing rents.

An update on the DOI’s rent setting process isn’t expect until later this year.

[Reporter: Ewan Gawne - Local Democracy Reporter]

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