Rent Consultation 2026-27

River Clyde Homes is looking for your views on our proposed rent increases from April 2026.

Your response enables automatic participation in a prize draw with the chance of winning a £250 shopping voucher.

Like many businesses and individuals, RCH continues to be impacted by rising costs. The cost of building materials and construction has risen faster than general inflation. This means it costs more to carry out repairs, maintenance and investment works as materials, labour and contractor costs increase. 

It is always challenging to set rents, as RCH recognise that any increase to rent levels will have an impact on tenants. We understand that any rent increase can be concerning, and we want to reassure you that every effort has been made to keep the proposed increase as low as possible, whilst ensuring that we can continue to invest in your home and maintain the essential services you rely upon. We must balance keeping rents as low as possible with the rising costs to deliver our services. This is so that we can continue to look after you and your home. 

As part of our consultation, in December we held a focus group session in our offices. Thank you for your views on rent options, affordability, value for money and the impact they will have to the services we provide - we will be contacting our customers with details on how to complete the Consultation Survey.

This year, we are consulting you on a rent increase of between 4.8% and 5.8%. We are seeking your feedback on the following three options for the rent increase for 2026/27:

Option 1 - Increase rents by 4.8%, which would allow us to keep repairs and building safety spending at current levels. . 

Option 2 - Increase rents by 5.3% which would allow us to deliver option one and fund additional investment in homes, the equivalent of 40 kitchen replacements.. 

Option 3 – Increase rents by 5.8% which would allow us to deliver option one and fund additional investment in homes, the equivalent of 82 kitchen replacements. 

Here’s an example of how a 4.8% increase would affect a typical tenement property:

Property Size Current weekly rent Proposed new weekly rent Weekly Increase
1 bedroom £101.88 £106.77 +£4.89
2 bedrooms £106.31 £111.41 +£5.10
3 bedrooms £110.73 £116.05 +£5.32
4 bedrooms £115.17 £120.70 +£5.53

Here’s an example of how a 5.3% increase would affect a typical tenement property:

Property Size Current weekly rent Proposed new weekly rent Weekly Increase
1 bedroom £101.88 £107.28 +£5.402
2 bedrooms £106.31 £111.94 +£5.63
3 bedrooms £110.73 £116.60 +£5.87
4 bedrooms £115.17 £121.27 +£6.10

Here’s an example of how a 5.8% increase would affect a typical tenement property:

Property Size Current Weekly Rent Proposed new weekly rent Weekly Increase
1 bedroom £101.88 £107.79 +£5.91
2 bedrooms £106.31 £112.48 +£6.17
3 bedrooms £110.73 £117.15 +£6.42
4 bedrooms £115.17 £121.85 +£6.68

You can read about our 2024/25 performance in our published Annual Report to Customers. The report shows how every penny of rent money is spent. We feel it is important that you understand the impact rising costs are having on our budgets and what we can do too. These cost pressures have a significant impact on our business planning and rent setting process for 2026/27.

Consultation over other charges for wardens, caretaking services, heating and factoring will take place separately with the relevant customers. 

In February 2026, the Association’s Board will consider and approve the level of rent increase for 2026/27, taking account of the views expressed in this consultation. We will write to inform you of the new rent charge for 2026/27 at least four weeks in advance of any changes that may occur in April 2026.  

If you are worried about paying your rent, please get in touch with us straight away, so we can talk about how we can help. You can contact our Customer Experience Team on 01475 788887.