When we review our rents and service charges each year, the Welsh Government says that we must make sure they are affordable for current and future customers, and that we set service charges which are reasonable, affordable and offer value for money.
We have transformed the way we work with customers who live in our homes through the delivery of our bespoke neighbourhood coaching and support offer. We aim to build relationships and trust with our customers instead of only interacting with them when there’s an issue. This allows customers to approach us before they reach a crisis point and enables us to work with them on all areas affecting tenancy sustainability including health, support, finance, education and much more.
Rent and service charge FAQ's
As per your occupation contract, we review your rent every year and any changes we make take effect in April. This covers the housing management and maintenance costs to your property. We aim to keep your rent affordable and follow Welsh Government’s rent setting guidance which includes that your rent increase should be related to the inflation for the year to October 2024. Inflation is at a lower level now, however as an organisation we have suffered much higher levels of inflation over the past few years.
Hafod is working hard to reduce costs as much as we can so that we can deliver best value for money for our tenants.
We appreciate the pressures on individuals and encourage our tenants to contact us as we may be able to help.
On 1st December 2022 the Renting Homes (Wales) Act came into force, and everyone who rents a home in Wales is affected. From this date your tenancy agreement converted to a Renting Homes occupation contract, and you became the contract holder/s. There are different types of contract/contracts, depending on the type of property you rent. Under your occupation contract (previously your tenancy agreement) we review your rent and service charge every year and any changes we make take effect in April.
Under the new Renting Homes legislation, we are required to give you at least two months’ notice of a rent increase and must issue you with a Notice of Rent Variation Form (RHW12). Please note that this form only refers to the rent and does not include any service charges (as service charges are not covered by this legislation).
If you are in receipt of Universal Credit you will need to update your journal with your new rent details. You are unable to do this until the day that the rent increase takes effect on 1st April 2025. Therefore, please keep hold of this letter so you have access to the new rent/service charge amount.
Please note that Hafod are unable to update your journal for you. If you do not update your journal, then you may be underpaid for your housing costs which could result in rent arrears.
Please contact us so that your Neighbourhood coach, Housing officer or Support worker can speak with you to offer advice, support and guidance. If your finances have been affected by the increased cost of living then please get in touch, we are here to help.
There are many factors that determine rent charges, one of which can be your contract start date and the policy at the time that you signed your occupation contract (tenancy agreement). It is very unlikely that your rent has been calculated incorrectly.
Service charges are calculated separately to rent, although they are part of your total rent charge. The service charge is a payment made towards the cost of services and repairs beyond those specifically for the accommodation that you live in. For example, the maintenance and cleaning of a communal area. If you have a query regarding your service charge or would like a breakdown of these, please contact us.
Your Neighbourhood coach is able to change your Direct Debit amount for you. If you pay your rent in full via direct debit then this will be done automatically for you.
If you pay part of your rent via direct debit then a new calculation will be made once you have received your new benefit award and your direct debit will be amended. If you do not hear from us then please get in contact.
You will need to amend your standing order by contacting your bank. You can do this online if you have online banking. Unfortunately, we are unable to do this for you.
We are here to help. If you have any questions or need our advice and guidance, please get in touch or call 0800 024 8968.
What does my rent cover?
Rent is payable on your property for the cost of providing, managing, maintaining and improving your home. The money we raise through rent collection goes back into providing services and maintaining our homes. Your rent helps to pay for the following services:
- Repairs, maintenance and buildings insurance of homes
- Improving homes to make sure they reach government standards
- Providing essential services in the community
- Funding the neighbourhood housing, income and support services that benefit our customers including helping with neighbourhood issues and collecting rent
- Building new affordable housing for rent and sale
How we spent your rent in 2024
We have completed 1,196 stock condition surveys to increase our data held about our homes and aid our future decarbonisation strategy.
We are pleased to have been able to continue with our repairs services and our planned programme to continue to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS) and to ensure all our homes are compliant with Renting Homes (Wales) requirements.
- 19,500+ repairs carried out
- 1,351 electrical safety checks
- 4,682 gas safety checks
- 396 homes had new windows and doors
- 75 homes had new roofs and/or rooflines
- 288 homes had new kitchens
- 121 homes had new boilers and heating systems
- 82 homes had new bathrooms
We have built 70 new homes up to December 2024 and anticipate handing over a further 35 homes by the end of March 2025.
We have a healthy pipeline of new developments and anticipate handing over approximately 350 new homes over the next 2 years.
In 2024 our Housing and Support teams helped customers by collecting:
- More than £41,000 in Discretionary Housing Payments, rent rescue payments, backdated Housing benefit and discretionary assistance fund payments.
- More than £200,000 through the work of our Money Advisor securing payments, grants, contributions and debt write offs.
- More than £90,000 on assisting customers with food, fuel, food and other essential items including assistance with rent arrears.
What does my service charge cover?
Service charges are paid for the specific services you receive from us and usually relate to the shared areas in and around your home. Services provided to your home can differ depending on the type of property you live in or the area surrounding you. The charges for each service are based on the cost of providing that service the previous year. Most service charges are eligible for housing benefit and universal credit. Here is a summary of some of the service charges (this list is not exhaustive):
Our team at Hafod work hard to ensure we deliver a quality cleaning service. We carefully monitor the quality of work and monitor customer feedback to ensure the highest standard of hygiene in our properties.
We take our duty of care to our customers very seriously and all our properties are risk assessed, with suitable fire safety equipment being installed where appropriate, and making sure that it is regularly checked tested and maintained.
Lighting is also important to keep you safe in and around your home. This charge covers the cost of electricity for streetlights in non-adopted estates and/or providing electricity for lighting in communal areas where you live.
You need your home and communal areas to be warm with access to hot water where appropriate. This charge is for the heating and/or hot water in the communal areas where you live.
We recognise the need to ensure the land we own surrounding our properties is kept in good condition to make areas attractive and to contribute to your well-being. This includes the cost of cutting grass, litter picking and maintaining the outdoor communal areas where you live.
It’s important to us that our customers feel safe in their homes, we provide and maintain CCTV equipment in the communal areas where you live to help with this.
Some of our properties have lifts for our customers’ safety and convenience. It’s important that these are serviced and maintained to keep them safe for use.
This covers the cost of providing a water supply to your individual flat.
We work hard to keep the areas surrounding your property attractive and in good condition, so we try to remove bulky waste as soon as possible, this charge covers the cost to remove large pieces of furniture and other oversized pieces of rubbish that have been left in the area. We charge this to individual customers when appropriate and wherever possible.
We maintain the communal areas where you live to keep our communities safe.
This contribution helps support our team at Hafod, ensuring we have the resources in place to be the ideal landlord for you; dealing with your questions and concerns quickly and making sure problems are dealt with promptly.
Sometimes, to deliver best value, we pay an external management company to provide some of these services on our behalf.
How do we calculate your rent?
We are changing the way we calculate monthly rent payments, using the following calculation:
Dividing the weekly rent by 7 (to give a daily figure) multiplying by 365 (days) or 366 (days in a leap year) and dividing by 12 (months) to give the monthly figure
Example based on a rent weekly rent of £140:
• £140 (weekly rent) / 7 (days) = £20 (daily figure)
• £20 (daily figure) x 365 days = £7300
• Divide by 12 (months) = £608.34 per calendar month (monthly rent)
Or during a leap year
• £140 (weekly rent) / 7 (days) = £20 (daily figure)
• £20 x 366 days (leap year) = £7320
• Divide by 12 (months) = £610 per calendar month (monthly rent)
If you have any queries regarding this, please contact us on 0800 024 8968 or by email at Neighbourhood.Coach@hafod.org.uk
Why is my rent and service charge increasing?
Rents are reviewed annually with new rents being communicated to customers by the end of January each year for introduction from April each year. Government guidelines tell us how to review your rent.
Your service charges are also reviewed. Changes to service charges are related to the actual cost of delivering the services in the previous year.
In October 2024, we asked customers about their rent. 66% of those who responded felt their rent was value for money and 77% felt that their rents were affordable. We don’t use this information as a reason to increase rents – this feedback is considered along with our other affordability reviews and calculations when considering any changes in rents and service charges.
We value customer feedback and are always keen to hear your views. Please look out for ways to share your thoughts on our services through our monthly eNewsletter, Hafod Connect, and on our website.
Are you providing any support to assist customers with the impact of the rising cost of living?
Hafod are available to support customers with the cost of living. In 2024 we have assisted customers with the purchase of fuel, energy, food and essential items including clothing and household goods via our “Here for You” campaign, which continues to run in 2025.
In addition to this, we put a programme of support in place for customers which included:
- “Back to School” campaign in August/September where we assisted customers with the purchase of more than £12,000 worth of uniform and other school essentials, supporting 391 children from 215 families.
- Christmas Kindness campaign where we offered £10,000 worth of support for customers with food and gifts. We also distributed more than 250 toys to customers who were struggling, following a very generous donation from Hasbro. This supported 171 adults and 166 children during the Christmas period.
- Support in accessing foodbank, fuel bank and household good initiatives.
- Issuing food hampers and winter warm items such as hot water bottles and blankets to households requiring support.
- Income maximisation work securing grants, funding and benefit payments for customers.
- Publishing a cost-of-living special edition of our monthly e-newsletter; as well as continuing to provide financial well-being support via our Financial Inclusion coach and publishing articles providing advice and guidance around income maximisation.
- Ensuring that the cost-of-living page on our website is fit for purpose and has the latest information in terms of the support you can access.
A continued priority for 2025, is to continue the focus upon financial inclusion and wellbeing, working with our customers and partners to find positive solutions. Our Neighbourhood coaching team are also able to assist with personal goals and aspirations around financial well-being. We are here for you, so should you require support with cost of living or your finances in general then please contact us.