Rents are reviewed annually as specified in your tenancy agreement. The amount we can increase rents by is regulated by the government and linked to the consumer price index (CPI) which tracks the average increase in costs that consumers pay for goods and services.  

 CPI is the consumer price index (published monthly by the Office for National Statistics). The rent regulations require the use of the CPI for September 2024, which was 1.7%. 

The current regulations limit rent increases to CPI +1%, so rents will be increased by 2.7% in April 2025. 

Shared Ownership rents are reviewed annually as specified in your tenancy agreement and are linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI). 

 RPI is the Retail Price Index (published monthly by the Office of National Statistics).   

The RPI in September 2024 was 2.7%, so (based on the RPI +½ % formula) shared ownership rents from April 2025 will increase by 3.2%. 

Example rent review calculation:

Note: The example above is for illustration purposes only. Your actual weekly or monthly rent and service charge may differ and are detailed in the rent increase notification letter we have sent you.

CPI is the consumer price index, published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. 

The CPI measures how much the average cost of a ‘basket’ of household consumer goods and services has changed over time. 

For more detail visit the ONS website.

For rent calculation purposes the September CPI is used. The CPI for September 2024 was 1.7%. 

If you pay by Direct Debit and/or Housing Benefit 

Your payments will be adjusted automatically to reflect your new rent and service charges, so you don’t need to do anything. 

If you pay by Standing Order 

You will need to contact your bank in advance of your next payment to ask them to adjust your payment. 

If you pay by Universal Credit 

You need to update your new rent on your Universal Credit account by completing a ‘Confirm your housing costs’ to-do within your journal.  You should do this on 7th April 2025 or as soon as possible after that date but no later than the end of your monthly assessment period.  If you get your Universal Credit paid direct to Halton Housing, you will still need to report the increase. We have enclosed a guide to show you how to do this. If you don’t report the change in your rent, Univerasl Credit will not increase the housing cost element, and you will have to pay the shortfall in your rent. 

If you pay online, by phone or text, by post or at a pay point

You will need to adjust what you pay to the amount stated in your letter. 

There are many easy ways to pay your rent - you can see them all here.

If you would like help changing the way you pay, get in touch.

We are committed to supporting you when you face financial difficulties and encourage you to contact us straight away if you are struggling.  We have a range of help available from specialist teams here to help you agree affordable repayment options to advice on claiming benefits, maximising your income, and reducing debts to manage repayments. Get in touch with our Welfare Benefit/Money Advice Team on 0151 510 5024 or Debt Recovery Team on 0151 510 5204.  

Your rent helps pay for the services we provide to you.  

For more details, please see our ‘Rent increase explained 2025-2026 leaflet’ you received alongside your rent increase notification letter. 

Some customers and leaseholders pay charges for extra services, particularly in blocks of flats, estates or sheltered housing schemes. 

If you do pay a service charge, your rent letter will include your service charges for 2025 and whether there is an increase.  

Service charges are not regulated in the same way as rents; service charges reflect the actual cost of providing the service, so service charges can increase (or sometimes decrease) based on inflation (for fixed service charges), or changes in the cost of contracts or service needs. 

For the year commencing April 2025, Halton Housing will be capping service charge increases. This cap will ensure that, even if the cost of delivering the service exceeds it, customers will pay no more than an additional £2.00 per week for services than they did in 2024. 

We’re here to help you understand any new service charges. We will provide you with timely, accurate, and relevant information about the charges that apply to you. If you have any concerns, we aim to resolve them through our customer complaints process. You can find details on how to log a stage 1 complaint here. 

An ‘eligible’ service charge is one which under current regulations may be paid as part of claim for Universal Credit or Housing Benefit. These are broadly speaking charges for ‘communal’ services such as grounds maintenance and cleaning of communal areas.   

An ‘ineligible’ charge is one which housing benefit or universal credit will not pay. These are generally referred to as ‘personal’ charges, for example heating and hot water or water rates, which are paid for services within the home as opposed to communal areas.