COUNCIL house rents in Ellesmere Port and Neston are to rise from next month.

A new rent formula devised by the Government will see rents increase by on average 5.67% in April.

There will be no increase in shop rental charges during the next financial year but garages will see a rise of 15p a week.

The council has already approved a five-year housing capital investment programme in excess of £50m and this is now into its second year.

Cllr Herbert Manley, executive member for prosperity, told Thursday’s council budget meeting: “We have been looking after the housing revenue account for a number of years now and there is a need to ensure that the council houses are brought up to standard.

“We have been working hard as a council to achieve that and I believe we are making inroads at this present time.

“We are talking to our tenants and letting them have a say in what’s going on.

“The rents that we have actually set this year are an average of £73.95 per household, compared with £69.68 last year.

“This amount of money is less than Weaver Vale and Chester & District Housing Trust and is well below the private sector.”

However, Cllr Angela Claydon said: “This increase in 5.67% in rent is in addition to the welfare reform which is coming in, so there is quite a lot of difficulty going to be placed on our tenants.

“They are going to get this increase in rent and they are going to get the bedroom tax as well, so that could mean an extra £12-24 a week in rent for some people.

“Plus Dane have the contract to manage our houses and they are expected to collect 100% of the rent, but that has got to change because they are not going to be able to do it, due to the trouble that many of our tenants are going to find themselves in.”

Cllr Myles Hogg added: “In addition to improving services, Plus Dane has been able to achieve a number of efficiencies in delivering the Housing Capital Investment programme.

“An example of this is the re-roofing and over-cladding of the Hawksley bungalows, where Plus Dane has been able to procure the work for £200,000 less than the original budget.

“This has enabled works to be brought forward from the 2013/14 phase, resulting in an additional seven bungalows being completed ahead of schedule.”