Cabinet agrees 2026/27 housing budget with focus on better quality homes for residents
Cabinet has agreed the Council’s housing revenue account (HRA) budget for 2026/27, which will see funding raised to improve residents’ homes, heating charges kept the same, and continued investment in tenant services.
From 1st April 2026, rents will increase by 4.8% - this increase will see an average 2-bed property household pay around £7 extra per week. Subject to the government’s decision on a new rent convergence policy designed to make rents fair by ensuring tenants in similar properties pay the same amount, rents may also rise by a further £2 per week. For an average 2-bedroom home, this could bring the total weekly increase to £9.
This will raise between £8.1million and £10.4million which will be fully reinvested into Camden’s housing to help ensure council homes are well maintained and housing services are delivered to a high standard for residents. Tenant service charges will also rise, generating an additional £1 million. These charges directly fund essential services that residents need, such as cleaning, caretaking, grounds maintenance, lift servicing and other essential estate management activities.
For 72% of Council tenants, the rent and service charge increases will be covered fully or partially by their housing benefit.
Rent policy decisions made by government over time has resulted in £201million of lost rental income since 2016. Alongside this, housing cost pressures are rising because of soaring inflation, increased fire and building safety costs as well as high housing repair costs, creating severe financial challenges for Camden and local authorities across the country.
Camden also welcomed Awaab’s Law which came into effect in October 2025 - mandating strict timeframes for social landlords to investigate and fix serious issues like damp and mould. The Council is investing an additional £3million as part of this budget to respond to this as well as continue funding the necessary repairs to residents’ homes.
The money raised will also be reinvested into home improvements, making properties more energy efficient – so residents can pay less on their energy bills in the long term - and replacing outdated communal heating systems.
Despite extensive work to balance our budgets and additional capital funding from the current government, we still face significant financial challenges across our housing stock. Increasing the charges our tenants pay is not something we take lightly, however with a large housing stock like ours we are being stretched to the limit. Not only is there continued investment needed to reach new fire safety requirements, there is significant investment needed in communal heating beyond the budgets currently set aside.
When combined with a planned contribution from reserves, this budget will bring in £15.2million to help us maintain our housing services and improve our housing stock – ensuring our homes are of the highest quality our residents need and deserve and we can sort out the issues most impacting our residents.
We know this rent increase may be challenging for some of our residents and we are here to help – we have a wide range of support available to those who are concerned about money, debt, their energy use, or bills. As a landlord, we have a crucial role in residents’ lives and we will continue to push our house building programmes and ensure our homes can best meet the needs of our residents.
Support for residents
If you’re having problems paying your rent, service charges or mortgage, get advice and support as soon as you can. Head to worried about housing costs or losing your home for more information.
You can find out more about the wide range of support available at camden.gov.uk/cost-of-living-support