Haringey Council is set to increase rents for temporary accommodation, impacting residents in General Fund properties and those in accommodations leased from private landlords. The average rent increase is expected to be £30 per week for those in General Fund lodges and £80 per week for those in properties leased from private landlords.
The decision, made by Councillor Sarah Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning (Deputy Leader), aims to create uniformity in rent levels across different types of temporary accommodation and to minimise the overall cost to the council. The move follows a review that found rent levels for temporary accommodation held in the General Fund had not been reviewed since 2017.
Alternative options considered, but ultimately rejected, included not updating the rents and charges, which would maintain the disparity between rents in leased and licenced temporary accommodation with other tenure types, and only applying higher rents to new tenants/licensees, which would create further disparity in rents for tenants in similar types of properties, according to the report for temporary accommodation rent setting approach.
The new policy, outlined in the temporary accommodation rent setting policy, will affect properties leased or licensed from private owners for less than 10 years, as well as those in council-owned lodges such as Broadwater Lodge and Whitehall Lodge. Rents for hotels and bed and breakfast accommodations will not be increased, as the council intends to reduce its reliance on these types of housing.
For properties leased from private landlords, the council currently sets rents at 90% of the 2011 Local Housing Allowance (LHA) plus £40 per week. The new policy proposes to converge these rents to the full applicable LHA rate. For General Fund lodges, license fees will be increased annually in line with the Rent Standard, currently CPI + 1%.
The council anticipates that the changes in rent policy will reduce the cost of providing temporary accommodation by £450,000 to £750,000 in 2025/26, and £600,000 to £1 million in 2026/27.
An equality impact assessment (EQIA) was conducted to analyse the potential effects of the policy on individuals with protected characteristics. The EQIA noted that families with children and residents identifying as Black are over-represented in the temporary accommodation population and may be more likely to be negatively impacted. However, the report also stated that for households receiving full Housing Benefit, the changes would have no impact, as their rent would continue to be fully covered.
The EQIA identified that around a third of households in temporary accommodation are not currently claiming Housing Benefit. These residents will be expected to pay some or all of the rent increase. The council has committed to providing these households with access to financial support and signposting to other agencies for benefit maximisation. Specifically, these households will be given access to the financial support team and signposting to other agencies for benefit maximisation where applicable. They may also be eligible to apply for Discretionary Housing Benefit where the shortfall in Housing Benefit is due to non-income/savings related reasons.
Residents affected by these increases will be notified with 28 days' notice. For those in Lodges this will be delivered by hand. The notification letter will be written in layman's terms to ensure transparency and will include contact details for questions, concerns, or translated versions. A contact number for the Rental Income team will be provided to ensure those who are affected and who are 'self-payers' can get in touch with the team to discuss the increase.
The council will monitor the impact of the rent increases on residents, particularly those with protected characteristics identified in the EQIA, through an annual review as part of the annual budget review. This may include the creation of a Mitigation Fund to help those who are unduly affected by the policy.
The decision was made at a Cabinet Member Signing meeting on Monday, 7th July, 2025. The minutes of the meeting detail the resolutions made, including the approval of the temporary accommodation rent setting policy and the noting of the equality impact assessment. The report presented to Councillor Williams outlined the reasons for the decision, alternative options considered, and the financial implications of the policy change. The extract from the housing revenue account 2025/26 - 2029/30 report was also noted, outlining proposed rent increases for council-owned properties used as temporary accommodation.
