Manchester City Council will increase rents on properties built under private finance initiatives (PFIs) this year,due to concerns of viability due to rent cuts ” in the long term.
Rents on the PFI properties will increase by 2%, meaning tenants in a PFI property will pay an average weekly rent of £77.74, compared to general needs tenants who will pay £73.18.
It comes as the council warns cuts to rents will make its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) unviable, with reserves projected to run out in 25 years. The council said this was necessary so it can continue to afford to fund its PFI projects as “building costs increase into the future”.
Manchester City Council has 2,707 PFI properties in its overall stock of 16,163 homes.