Falkirk Council house rents to rise by 9.5 per cent this year

Members of Falkirk Council also agreed on Thursday that rents will rise by nine per cent in 2026-27 and seven per cent in 2027-28, although both of these increases will be reviewed ahead of their respective budgets.

The increase means that the average rent will rise by £7.47 per week this year.

However, the report to councillors highlighted that around 9000 of the council’s 16,500 tenancies will be protected from the full increase as they get housing benefit or universal credit.

According to the report, Falkirk Council currently has the third lowest rents among 32 local authorities in Scotland and even with the increase it is likely to remain around the fifth lowest.

The council also has the fourth lowest spend on tenancy management and fourth highest spend on repairs.

The SNP spokesperson for housing and communities, Councillor Gary Bouse told council that the rise is necessary to maintain the current housing stock and make improvements.

“This is a balanced budget that will deliver quality housing,” he said.

Spending on council housing does not come from the council’s revenue budget but is required to be self-financing from council house rents.

Members heard that costs have increased significantly with inflation over the last four years while high interest rates have made borrowing extremely expensive.

According to the report, the cumulative rent increase over four years (2021-22 to 2024-25) was 10.3 per cent below the Consumer Price Index (CPI ) for the same period, at 11.43 per cent compared to 21.72 per cent.

While there was no challenge to the rise from opposition councillors, Councillor Anne Hannah said that some tenants would be asking why they have to “pay more and get less”.

Housing manager Kenny Gillespie said that the increase in rents would help them target repairs “to make sure our properties are to a high standard” and also ensure there is funding for capital projects.