Rent and service charges
We use the rent and service charges we receive to provide services and carry out improvements to your home and estate. That's why it’s important you keep your payments up to date (and please don’t forget, your rent needs to be paid in advance).
For more information about your rent and ways to pay, visit this page - which also includes advice about managing your money and dealing with debt.
Service charges cover the costs of maintaining communal areas for your estate and/or block. This page covers things like the difference between variable and fixed service charges and how we calculate estimated and actual service charges.
Please see below for frequently asked questions relating to the annual rent and service charge review.
FAQs - annual rent and service charge review 2024
The income from your rent is used to provide services and to maintain and build affordable homes for our customers.
In recent years we’ve experienced considerable, and in some cases substantially higher than inflation, increases to our costs of providing these.
We want to continue to invest in providing the level and range of services that our customers want. All income raised through rent increases will be invested in this, as well as modernising and improving existing homes and building much needed new ones.
The rent increases and potential impact on customers was considered by the Resident and Board Partnership. They provided feedback on this to the Board of Sovereign Network Group, who approved the rent increases. They also approved that additional funding be provided to the existing customer support and community funds, to help reduce the potential impact of the rent increase on customers.
Most tenant’s rent increases are set in accordance with government rent policies, which is the Consumer Price Index figure as at the previous September, plus an additional 1%. This is an increase of 7.7% from April 2024.
For tenancies that aren’t included in government rent policies, the rent increase will also be 7.7%. However, if there is a clause within the tenancy which would make the increase a lower amount, this will be followed.
For shared owners the rent increase level and date are set out in their lease agreement. For many shared owners this is based on the Retail Price Index figure as at the previous September, plus an additional 0.5%. For rent increases in April 2024 this is 9.4%.
Please refer to your individual lease for details of your own rent increase method.
For key workers living in NHS accommodation the rent increase is based on agreements with the relevant NHS Trust. The rent increase for these properties won’t take place until May 2024.
The charge increase for garage licences from April 2024 is 6.7%. This is the September 2023 Consumer Price Index figure.
If you have additional service charges, you’ll have received information about the estimated charges from April 2024 with your rent review letter.
Your service charges only cover the costs of providing the service, we don’t make any additional income from your service charge.
We understand that rent increases can be worrying and difficult to manage.
Please contact us if you are struggling or concerned about paying your charges, as there are many ways that we may be able to help you. This includes advice on debt management, benefits, and employment, as well as financial support.
Some information on this was included in the Our services guide [pdf, 15MB] 
which was sent to you along with your rent increase letter.
Find more information on our Cost of living support page.
You may also like to use the Better off calculator, where you can check if you’re receiving everything you’re entitled to or may qualify for additional benefits or lower tariffs.
As long as you work with us to manage any arrears you have, you will not lose your home if you cannot pay your rent.
There are normally 52 weeks in a year, and we charge customers on a weekly basis to cover this period. Rent weeks always start on a Monday.
But every five or six years, the days of the week fall so there are 53 Mondays - and therefore 53 ‘rent weeks’ - in a year. The next time this will happen is the financial year from Monday 1 April 2024 to Sunday 6 April 2025.
This means there will be an extra week of rent to pay if you are on a weekly tenancy agreement or licence.
Calculating your extra payment depends on any benefits you receive, how you pay your rent and how often you make payments.
The letter you were sent will specify the start date of your new charge. In most cases this will be 1 April 2024. You should make sure any payments for your charges due from April are at the new amount.
We will calculate what your new payments should be, and we will contact you in advance of your first payment to confirm this to you. You won’t need to take any action. If you do not hear from us or you do not think the amount is correct, please get in touch.
As this is an agreement between you and your bank, you will need to advise them of the amount to increase this to, and the date that your new payment should start.
If your Housing Benefit is paid directly to us (as of January 2024) we will notify your local authority of your new charges. If you don’t receive confirmation from them of what your new entitlement from April will be, you should also inform them of your new charges.
If your Housing Benefit is paid directly to you, or your claim has only recently started or been paid directly to us, you will need to let your local authority know of your new charges.
If your housing costs are paid direct to you or your landlord please update your housing costs by completing the ‘to do’ task in your online journal, or by calling your Universal Credit Service Centre.
You cannot update your housing costs before 1 April 2024, but they must be updated before the end of your monthly Universal Credit assessment period, otherwise your housing costs may not be correct for April.
Please contact us for a form, or print off the form [pdf, 159KB] and return to us once completed.
If you pay by Direct Debit, any additional payment arrangements will be taken into account and included in your new payment amount.
If you pay by any other way and are unsure how much you should be paying, please get in contact with us.
Rent increases are applied in the same way to all our properties. We won’t carry out a review of your rent increase based on your own individual circumstances. However, if you believe an error has been made in how your new rent has been calculated, please let us know.
Some customers will have received a rent increase notice with their letter. This depends on the type of tenancy held and for how long. These customers can apply for their proposed rent to be reviewed against rents for properties let on the open market by the First Tier Tribunal. Details on how to do this are on the back of the notice. If you would like to apply for a review, you must do so before the date your new rent starts.
You can call our Customer Services team on 0300 5000 926, email them at contact@sovereign.org.uk or complete our online form. If they’re unable to answer your query right away, they’ll put you in touch with the right team to help.
Paying your rent
For more information about your rent and ways to pay, this page includes advice about managing your money and dealing with debt.
Service charges
Lots of information and links about service charges, estimates and actuals, fixed and variable charges. And what you need to do if charges change and you’re on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.
Employment and skills
We’ve helped thousands of residents with their work goals and we can help you too: from getting into work to finding better paid work or gaining a qualification.