Town hall bosses in Wigan are to increase rents on the borough’s 21,000 council homes by 4.8 per cent from April.

The move was approved by the borough’s housing advisory panel and is set to be rubber-stamped by the authority’s cabinet and then the full council.

Councillors on the panel heard how the rise has been forced by a £35m deficit in Wigan’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA): the ring-fenced budget for the management of rents, maintenance and management of council properties.

This year, the Government confirmed that social landlords would be allowed to increase rents by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus one per cent annually for a 10-year period starting in April.

At Wigan Town Hall, councillors heard how the rent rise has been forced by a £35m deficit in Wigan’s Housing Revenue Account – the ring-fenced budget for the management of rents, maintenance and management of council properties

placeholder image — At Wigan Town Hall, councillors heard how the rent rise has been forced by a £35m deficit in Wigan’s Housing Revenue Account – the ring-fenced budget for the management of rents, maintenance and management of council properties

The panel heard the increase would bring in an additional £5m to the HRA. The rent hike in was unanimously agreed by the panel, which also includes tenant representatives.

Panel chair Coun Susan Gambles said there would be no £35m shortfall if the Government had not enforced rent reductions and caps.

A report to the panel reads: “The proposed rent increase for 2026/27 is intended to help recover lost resources and strengthen the HRA’s financial position in the long term.”

Coun John Harding said: “I welcome the fact that we’ve got tenants representatives as board members. We are not perfect and we never will be, but we are trying to be.”

Alluding to repair and maintenance issues, Coun Phyllis Cullen told colleagues: “A lot of our housing stock is over 100 years old. We are going to need a magic wand [to keep on top of repairs].

Coun Gambles said that there are at least 200 applicants for every council home that becomes vacant and said there were “administrative issues” in dealing with such applications.

The panel was given figures on the difference between council social rents and the private market rentals, per week.

They are for a one-bedroom council property, the rent is £80.60 per week, compared to £128.50 in the private sector; for a two-bedroom property, it’s £90.61, compared to £165.75; for a three-bedroom property, the rent is £99.05, compared to 198.50 and for a four-bedroom property, it costs £107.76, compared to £273.25.

Rents on Wigan’s 1,512 garages will also increase by 4.8 per cent from April, taking the average cost from £7.54 to £7.74. Currently, only 726 of the garages are occupied.