From April 2025, rents will change:

• most rents will increase by 2.7%
• shared ownership rent will increase by 3.2% in line with leases

We’ve listened carefully to feedback from customers and we’re sharing this news with you as early as possible, to give you time to plan for the change. 

Please remember we are here to support you. If you need to speak to us about your rent or service charge, please get in touch and we will be happy to help:

• email us at customerservices@thirteengroup.co.uk
• call us on 0300 111 1000
• visit a store in Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool or Hull

Why we need to increase your rent

The price of everyday items continues to go up and the cost of living is still a challenge for many people.

Although this has slowed down, we are still dealing with high prices for the things we need to buy so we can deliver services to you.

For Thirteen, this includes the price of building materials to deliver repairs and modernise homes.

As well as the cost to deliver important services for you, increasing your rent will help us to keep:

• investing heavily in improving existing homes – this year we are investing £64.8 million to modernise more than 2,300 homes
• supporting customers through tenancy support services
• supporting communities to thrive through our community resilience team.

How rent is set

We are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The regulator makes sure Thirteen and other housing providers set their rent the same way, and that customers can afford them. This is called the Rent Standard.

The regulator currently allows us to put rent up by the same rate as Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation in September of the previous year, plus 1%.

CPI inflation in September was 1.7%, plus 1%. This adds up to 2.7%.

Shared ownership rent

Shared ownership rent is slightly different. This can go up by the same rate as Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation in September of the previous year, plus 0.5%.

RPI inflation in September was 2.7%, plus 0.5%. this adds up to 3.2%.

What the rent increase will cost you
 

To help, we have provided some examples of what a 2.7% rent increase, excluding a service charge, will cost you per week. Here is an example of how the increase will affect your rent:

If you receive Universal Credit

If you receive Universal Credit the Government is increasing the amount people will receive by 1.7% from the beginning of April 2025. If you receive the housing element of Universal Credit, this will be amended accordingly to reflect the increase in your rent.

Help and support available to you

Please remember we are here to support you. If you are worried, please speak to us.

There are lots of things we can do to help you and provide advice on.

You may also be eligible to get help with your housing costs. If you are not sure, call us on 0300 111 1000 and we can help you.

How our costs have gone up

The cost of living has continued to have an impact on Thirteen. We are paying more for almost everything.

We’re continuing to see cost increases. The demand on our services has continued to rise and costs in 2025/26 are set to increase further.

• the cost of managing our homes is up £3m
• the cost of repairing and maintaining our homes is up £13m
• investment in modernising homes is up by £10m

Although we work hard to keep our costs down as much as possible, we need to increase rent to keep delivering these important services for you.

The table below shows how rent increases have not kept up with the increase in inflation over recent years. The gap between the two is 10.8%.

How we spend our rent income

As a housing provider there are lots of things we need to pay for.

This mainly involves repairing, maintaining, and modernising existing homes to keep customers safe and properties up to standard.

The diagram below shows a breakdown of how we have planned to spend our money in 2025/26 to provide the services customers need and rely on us for:

Service charges

We pay for a range of services to run and maintain shared buildings and spaces.

The cost of running these buildings has gone up, just like the cost of living. This means it is more expensive to run, and we need to pass these costs onto the customers that live in the buildings and benefit from the services.

We do not make any money on service charges. We simply recover the costs we must pay to deliver the services.

The amount your service charge will change by depends on the building. If you pay a service charge, we will tell you the exact costs when we write to you before the end of February.

Getting further information

We will send your formal notice of the rent increase, with exact details of your new charge(s) before the end of February. This will give you one month of advance notice.

If you pay a service charge, you will also get the exact information about these changes at the same time.

The information you receive will tell you your rent and service charge costs from April 2025.

You do not need to take any action at this time, this is for information only.

If you receive Universal Credit, you will need to keep your formal notice of the rent increase so you can update your journal at the time of your rent increase in April 2025 to continue getting financial support.  

In the meantime, please wait for your rent increase letter where we will let you know the next steps you might need to take.