Frequently Asked Questions: Rent Increases

• Social rent: Yes, if you’re one of our social customers this increase applies to you, and you’ll soon receive a letter explaining the changes.
• Market rent: No, if you’re one of our market rent customers this increase doesn’t apply to you.
• Rent to buy: No, if you’re one of our rent to buy customers this increase doesn’t apply to you because you signed up to pay a fixed monthly rate when you started your lease.
• Shared Ownership: Yes, if you’re one of our Shared Ownership customers this increase applies to you and you’ll soon receive a letter explaining the changes.
• Leaseholder: Yes, if you’re a Leaseholder with us the increase in service charges applies to you and you’ll soon receive a letter explaining the increase.
• Garage rent: Yes, if you’re renting a garage from us this increase applies to you and you’ll soon receive a letter explaining the changes.

You’ll soon be receiving a letter from us to let you know that that we've taken the decision to increase rents by 2.7% from 1 April 2025. We’ve written to you to tell you the new amount you will be paying from this date.

Every year, we review our rents and calculate your new rent based on the details in your tenancy agreement. The government’s rent increase formula, which is last September’s inflation rate (CPI) plus an extra 1%. As CPI in September 2024 was 1.7%, your rent will go up by 2.7%.

Yes, your new service charge reflects the cost we incur for providing services to your home and communal areas. We have calculated this cost based on what these services cost us in 2024 and we then had to increase these in line with inflation. You’ll soon be receiving a letter from us which explains your new service charges and breaks down your new payment.

We understand that any rent and service charge increase can be difficult. However, the costs of providing our services have risen over the past year, and we need to adjust rents to continue covering these expenses.

As a not-for-profit organisation, we reinvest every bit of rent we receive. Your rent pays for more than just your home – it funds essential services like repairs, maintenance, and safety checks, as well as long-term investments in homes, neighbourhoods, people, and communities.

We know that any change in service charges can be concerning, and we want to be as transparent as possible. We always work to keep our charges as affordable as possible, but the continued rising costs of providing essential services, including energy, utilities, and external supplier fees, have made it necessary to adjust and increase our charges for the coming year in some areas. We’ve worked hard to keep these adjustments as minimal as possible, but we need to ensure we can continue delivering the high standard of service you expect.

The new service charge reflects a careful assessment of the costs required to maintain and deliver services for your home. This includes everything from contractor fees (for pest control, lift servicing, building insurance) to the costs of repairs, communal electricity, and other essential services.

CPI – the Consumer Price Index – is a figure used to measure inflation. It reflects how much the price of common goods and services changes over time across the UK. CPI is higher than last year because the cost of goods, and services such as energy costs, is still high, affected by global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine. As a result of this rise in CPI, the amount rents can increase under the Government formula has also gone up.

What we’re planning to do – we’ll be investing:

• Over £97 million in repairs and maintenance for your homes and communal areas over the next three years. This includes replacing kitchens, bathrooms, windows, and doors, and improving the exterior of homes, including replacing fencing. Modernising our homes will also make them more energy efficient, helping to reduce your energy bills and tackle climate change.
• £4.7 million into our Healthy Homes programme to tackle damp, mould, and condensation during 2024/2025. If you find damp or mould in your home, contact us straight away so we can address it quickly.
• We’re continuing to support customers through the Thrive Fund and local projects that benefit customers through the Community Fund. Our Employment and Skills team will also keep hosting events and helping customers enhance their skills and job prospects.

We’ve got a range of customers who receive different services depending on what type of home you live in. Some customers pay rent, whilst others may own their home and pay a service charge for the ongoing upkeep and management of their building.  For example, our service charges cover the cost of extra services like heating and lighting of communal areas, particularly in blocks of flats.  

Due to the increases in national energy and utility bills, along with high levels of inflation affecting all other rising costs, we’ve had no choice but to increase these charges.    

If you do pay a service charge, then this will be clearly stated on the letter you receive from us along with a clear break down of the new amount you will be asked to pay from 1 April.

Customer Portal account

To view your rent account balance and make payments, log in to your account on our Customer Portal at www.onemanchester.co.uk. If you don't have an account yet, select 'Create an account'. It's easy to set up with your tenancy reference number, National Insurance number, and email address. Get in touch with us if you need any help.

Universal Credit

If you receive the housing element of Universal Credit, let the Department of Works and Pension (DWP) know by updating your Online Journal on April 1 2025 with your new rent amount. Don't update it before this date, as the DWP won't recalculate your entitlement with the new rent amount, which can cause delays to rent payments.

Standing Order or online banking

If you pay your rent by standing order or online banking, please change the amount to the new rent amount stated in this letter.

Direct Debit

If you pay by Direct Debit, we'll handle the changes for you between February and March 2025, ready for the increase. You'll receive a letter from Allpay before April 1 confirming the update. Please check this letter to make sure everything is correct. If you don't receive a letter or want us to double-check, we’re happy to help. Just email us at incometeam@onemanchester.co.uk or call 0330 355 1000.

Housing Benefit

If you receive Housing Benefit directly into your rent account, the total weekly charge will be updated automatically. We'll let your local authority benefits department know of the change, and they'll update your Housing Benefit entitlement. 

We know it’s been another tough year for many people, and we want to remind you that we’re here to support you.

• Get from the Financial Inclusion team - If you’re struggling, please reach out to our Financial Inclusion team at financialinclusion@onemanchester.co.uk, call us on 0330 355 1000 (option 2), or fill out our contact form

Our team can help you manage your money, budget, and claim extra money and benefits you’re entitled to. Last year, we helped customers claim £2.1 million in extra income. You can also find useful information on the help with money page on our website.

There’s also lots of additional support that you can access via the advice and support pages on our website.

• Apply for support through the Thrive Fund - We’d also like to remind you of the support available through our Thrive Fund. The fund is here to support you in easing the pressure of an increased cost of living, and it can be used to support customers who may need to purchase things such as furniture, kitchen appliances, school uniforms, children’s coats, and other everyday items.

What should I do if I think my rent and/or service charge has been calculated incorrectly?

Please get in touch with our team:

• Get in touch with our Income team via our contact us form
• For leaseholders, contact our Leasehold team via our contact us form

We understand that any rent increase can be difficult. However, the costs of providing our services have risen over the past year, and we need to adjust rents to continue covering these expenses.

 We need to balance this increase with the rising costs of maintaining and repairing homes and providing quality services. As a not-for-profit organisation all income from rent is reinvested into our homes and services. 

We know it’s been another tough year for many people, and we want to remind you that we’re here to support you. We’re determined to do the very best we can for all our customers with the resources we have. If you’re struggling, please reach out to our Financial Inclusion team at financialinclusion@onemanchester.co.uk, call us on 0330 355 1000 (option 2), or fill out our contact form

As per your tenancy agreement, some customers have two payment-free weeks (non-charge weeks). This is because your rents are calculated for 52 weeks but charged over 50 weeks. For 2025/26, the payment-free weeks are the weeks starting 1 April 2025, and 22 December 2025. If your account is in arrears, you’ll still need to pay rent during these weeks.

After a full review of our garage charges, we have taken the difficult decision to increase your garage rent from 1 April 2025. We always try to keep our charges as affordable as possible, but the continued rising costs have made it necessary to adjust and increase our charges for the coming year.

You can find more details about the increase in the letter you receive from us. Please do get in touch or call our trained team on 0330 355 1000 and choose option 3 if you need help.

Unfortunately, your rent and service charges will also be increased. We always try to keep our charges as affordable as possible, but the continued rising costs of providing essential services, including energy, utilities, and external supplier fees, have made it necessary to adjust and increase our charges for the coming year in some areas. We’ve worked hard to keep these adjustments as minimal as possible, but we need to ensure we can continue delivering the high standard of service you expect.

We know that any rise in outgoings is disappointing and may cause you to worry, you’ll soon be receiving a letter from us which sets out the new service charge you need to pay under your shared ownership lease.

The new service charge reflects a careful assessment of the costs required to maintain and deliver services for your home. This includes everything from contractor fees (for pest control, lift servicing, building insurance) to the costs of repairs, communal electricity, and other essential services.

Unfortunately, your service charges will also be increased. We always try to keep our charges as affordable as possible, but the continued rising costs of providing essential services, including energy, utilities, and external supplier fees, have made it necessary to adjust and increase our charges for the coming year in some areas. We’ve worked hard to keep these adjustments as minimal as possible, but we need to ensure we can continue delivering the high standard of service you expect.

We know that any rise in outgoings is disappointing and may cause you to worry, you’ll soon be receiving a letter from us which sets out the new service charge you need to pay under your shared ownership lease.

The new service charge reflects a careful assessment of the costs required to maintain and deliver services for your home. This includes everything from contractor fees (for pest control, lift servicing, building insurance) to the costs of repairs, communal electricity, and other essential services.

Details of what you’ll be paying from 1 April 2025 will be enclosed with your letter.  

Your service charge is payable quarterly, but if it works better for you, you can choose to pay your service charge monthly. Just get in touch by calling our Customer Resolution Centre on 0330 355 1000 or contact our Income Team via our contact us form.  

If you’ve set up a Direct Debit and your service charge is different from last year, you don’t need to do anything, this will be amended automatically for you. If you’d like to chat to a member of our team about your Direct Debit, just send our Income Team a message via our contact us form.  

Damp and mould can be a serious problem in homes, which can cause health issues and property damage. There are two main types: penetrating damp and rising damp.

If you have signs of damp and mould in your home, contact us as soon as possible. We can help fix the problem and stop it coming back. Please email healthyhomes@onemanchester.co.uk or call us on 0330 355 1000 and a member of the team will be in touch to arrange a survey. The survey will enable us to identify the root cause of the problem and arrange all repairs to resolve the issue.

Our dedicated Healthy Homes team is here to resolve any cases of damp, mould, and disrepair in your homes. Once you’ve reported the issue in your home, we’ll follow these steps:

• We’ll be in touch to arrange an appointment to come round and inspect the area
• The team will look to identify the root cause of the damp and mould and then book in improvement works
• Your improvement works will be carried out by our team
• You’ll be supported with a pro-active programme to help prevent the damp and mould coming back.