Background
The Co-operative is planning the budget for the next financial year starting in April 2026, and as a key part of that, we are carrying out our statutory consultation with tenants on what level of rent is set from April.
The Management Committee recognise that these are still challenging financial times for households, with many people struggling due to higher prices for food, energy, and general living costs.
The Management Committee is committed to keeping rents as low as possible and to finding the right balance between affordability and the need to cover the cost of providing services and continuing investment. The majority of our income (approximately 97%) comes from rents.
Do Rents have to Increase?
The costs of providing services, meeting our legal and statutory obligations, and keeping the area safe and tidy have gone up significantly over the last few years.
Inflation (consumer price index) rates have been as follows:
- October 2022 11.1%
- October 2023 4.6%
- October 2024 2.3%
- October 2025 3.6%
Reductions in inflation does not mean that costs have gone down – they are now rising more slowly.
The Rent Policy
WWHC’s Rent Policy seeks to balance the provision of housing services with affordable rents. The Co-operative is non-profit making but we need to generate a surplus in order to have funds to pay for major repairs and renewal programmes when required. The Rent Policy is points based with factors attributable to service and amenity elements so that there are rent differentials between different property sizes and types. The Policy and Business Plan are linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). We are planning to review the Rent Policy in consultation with tenants during 2026/27 along with a consultation on the services provided and costs. This process commenced with the Tenant Satisfaction Survey recently carried out by Research Resource on our behalf with the results to be published.
How is Income Spent?
The Co-operative’s income needs to cover the cost of:
- Management Costs
- Maintenance Costs
- Voids and Bad Debts
- Development Costs not met by other grant funding
- Loan Repayments
- Future Major Repairs and Renewal Costs
No other Registered Social Landlord in Scotland has such a high proportion (61%) of multi-storey flat stock type and associated additional costs.
Below is a breakdown of how money is spent across budgets:
| % of budget 2024/25 | % of budget 2025/26 | % of budget 2026/27 | |
| MSF costs including Concierge | 25.0% | 26.2% | 26.1% |
| Planned and reactive maintenance costs | 21.6% | 21.8% | 22.3% |
| Insurances | 4.4% | 4.7% | 3.6% |
| Office staff salary and employers costs | 23.4% | 23.9% | 24.8% |
| Office maintenance and running costs | 4.4% | 4.6% | 5.4% |
| Affiliations, fees and training | 2.9% | 3% | 3.2% |
| Community Support / Wider Action | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Loan repayments | 16.2% | 14.2% | 13.1% |
Supporting our Tenants and Community
Both WWHC and Whitlawburn Community Resource Centre (WCRC) work hard to access to additional funding to support our tenants. Over last year our welfare benefits support service resulted in financial gains for clients of over £180,000 which included energy vouchers that were issued last winter.
As well as this, WCRC received various funding awards totalling close to £140,000 which helped to support the Hub deliver the Food Co-operative, warm space coffee morning, digital and energy support, online cooking classes, community events, Christmas party and gifts, sports camps, school uniform support and arts and crafts sessions.
Maintenance Plans – Next 5 Years
We plan to continue investing in the properties with work which will include:
- Renew flat entrance doors – Multi-Storey Flat and Low Rise properties
- Replace kitchens and bathrooms – condition surveys have identified a number as needing renewed over the next 5 years
- Common area close and landing improvements – lighting, painting and flooring
- Hard landscaping / car parking improvements
- Gas boiler renewals (for properties built 2009)
- Electrical consumer unit required replacements
- External painting works (for properties built 2009)
We have appointed a consultant to update our stock condition information. This should be complete before the end of this financial year and the information will be used to update the future investment programme.
What has the Management Committee considered so far?
The Committee has carefully considered rent increase options needed by the Business Plan finance projections to fulfil investment plans. Committee took into account the significant cost increases over the last 24 months, with the actual inflation figure for some areas rising significantly above CPI.
During the budget process, the following have impacted on the proposed increase:
- Following a joint procurement exercise of maintenance services with other RSLs, we introduced a framework agreement
- During 2024/25. we re-measured and carried out a procurement exercise for grounds maintenance work including a winter programme
- We put in place a new IT system resulting in efficiency savings
- The 3-year contract which fixed landlord electricity costs ended 31/03/2025. We carried out a procurement exercise resulting in a 45% cost increase for a new 3-year contract – 2026/27 is year 2
- We required to have the housing stock revalued for insurance purposes resulting in a 60% increase in insurance costs over 2 years
- Employer National Insurance increased by 1.2% with a 45% reduction in the earnings threshold in 2025/26.
- The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (November 2025) expects inflation to fall to close to 3% early next year before gradually returning towards to the 2% target over the subsequent year although that is not assured.
- We continue to benchmark multi storey flat rent levels and services against other landlords with this stock type.
- We procure services jointly with other landlords where possible.
- We put longer-term contracts with fixed costs in place where possible
- We are members of appropriate industry bodies where cost information is shared and collective agreement reached.
- We will continue with close monitoring and explore additional efficiency savings where possible.
Rent Increase Proposal of 5.1% for 2026/27
The Management Committee has a duty to consider the long-term impact of decisions that are made today and need to ensure the Co-operative’s long-term financial viability.
A 5.1% increase is the lowest that can be proposed without significant reductions in services and future investment plans.
This option aims to:
- Sustain the current levels of services in the short term
- Generate a positive cash flow for the Co-operative in the longer term
- Maintain our planned investment programme to our properties from 2026/27 onwards.
What would this mean for rent levels?
The following table illustrates the impact on average rents*:
| Property Size | Average Weekly Rent 2025/26 | Average Weekly Rent 2026/27 |
| 2 apartment | £93.56 | £98.33 |
| 3 apartment | £111.30 | £116.97 |
| 4 apartment | £124.87 | £131.24 |
| 5 apartment | £134.25 | £141.10 |
*These average rents are calculated using the range of charges for different sizes and types of properties so they will not match the rent you pay.
Tenant Focus Groups
So that we can provide further information and answer any questions, two tenant focus group sessions will be held on Thursday 8th January 2026 where we will be requesting feedback on this rent consultation. Sessions planned as follows:
| Location | Whitlawburn Community Resource Centre |
| Session 1 | 1pm – 2pm |
| Session 2 | 6pm – 7pm |
We encourage tenants to attend to share their views. You can attend any session noted above. Refreshments will be provided.
Consultation Response
For all tenants that we hold mobile numbers or email addresses for, you will have received a link to allow you to respond to the consultation online. Contact the office to have this link re-sent to you.
For tenants where we do not hold an email address or mobile number for, you will receive the full consultation by post.
You can also respond by any of the following methods:
| In Writing | Please contact us to request a paper copy of the survey. Completed forms can be handed in to the office or Concierge Station. If you require this in a different format please let us know. |
| By Telephone | 0141 641 8628 |
| By Email | enquiries@wwhc.org.uk |
Please send us your comments no later than 5pm on Friday 16th January 2026.
Rent levels affect all of our members and tenants so it is important that as many tenants as possible respond. We appreciate you taking the time. All responses will be considered by the Management Committee when making a final decision. If you are worried about paying your rent, please contact us as soon as possible so we can discuss how we can help.
If you require further information, please let us know.