Rent and service charge changes 2026-2027

If you claim Universal Credit, it’s your responsibility to inform the Department for Work and Pensions of any changes to your rent and service charges.  You must not enter the new charges until the date of your rent increase.  If you do not update your claim on this date, it may result in an underpayment of your benefit award, which may not be backdated.

If you submit your new charges before your increase date, stated in your rent and service charge letter, the change will be rejected, and you won’t get an increase in your housing costs award.

If you don't submit the new rent and service charge before the end of your assessment period, you will only be assessed on the old charges which will result in you being in rent debt.

For more information about reporting a change to your circumstances, visit the Government’s website here: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/changes-of-circumstances 

If you’re in receipt of Housing Benefit, it’s your responsibility to inform the local authority of any changes to your rent and service charges.  If you do not update your claim, it may result in an underpayment of your benefit award, which may not be backdated.

It is your responsibility to ensure your Housing Benefit claim has been assessed based on your most up to date rent, eligible service charges and current circumstances, please check any updates they send you and make sure they are correct.

For more information about reporting a change to your circumstances, visit the Government’s website here: https://www.gov.uk/housing-benefit 

If you pay us by Direct Debit, you don’t need to do anything. We will send you confirmation of your new payment schedule in March.

 It’s important you double check your Direct Debit payment schedule, if you notice any inconsistencies or have any questions.

If you don’t currently pay by Direct Debit but would like to, we can get this set up for you, just get in touch.

To contact us, email act@alliancehomes.org.uk or call us on 03000 120 120.

You will need to start paying your new rent amount from April 2026.

If you’re having difficulty paying your rent or have money worries, please contact us as soon as possible or visit our Support with your finances page – we’re here to help.

There are several ways we can provide support:

Housing:

We offer advice on your housing situation and can answer any questions about your tenancy.

Paying rent:

If you’re having concerns about paying your rent, we can offer rent payment plans based on your individual circumstances.

Money advice

Our money advisors can help you to manage your finances.

Universal Credit

Our support services can help you make a Universal Credit claim.

Claiming benefits

We can help you claim other benefits e.g., carers support allowances, statutory sick pay, personal independence payments and more.

Financial support

We can put you in touch with West Country Saving and Loans who can provide advice on how to save or discuss an affordable short-term loan.

Springboard Fund

We have access to a fund which provides immediate financial support for those with financial difficulties, struggling to sustain their tenancy and cover the cost of practical items like energy and white goods.

General support

We can support you to live independently with home adaptation, helping you home from hospital or helping you to find training and employment.

Support for unpaid carers

Our Carers Services can offer advice and support for unpaid adult and young carers.

Tenant Support and Wellbeing Service

This is free-to-access, anonymous and impartial tenant support for when money worries and everyday concerns get too much.

As a not-for-profit organisation, rent income is reinvested into maintaining and improving our existing homes as well as helping to support the development of new  housing.

You can find out how we spend our income by looking at our most recent Annual Report.

Service charges you may pay to cover the cost of services we provide to help look after your home and surrounding area. If you pay service charges this will be set out in your tenancy agreement.

Service charges are calculated as per your tenancy or lease agreement.

If you pay service charges, this will be part of your total rent charge, so you do not need to make a separate payment for these.

If you are on a low income, you may be able to get some help towards your housing costs. If this is the case most service charges are covered by housing benefit or Universal Credit.  

Personal charges such as personal gas, personal electric, personal water, personal heating and administration fees for these services are not covered by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit. 

We set out service charges based on Customer Price Index (CPI) from September 2024. As a result of inflation and CPI our costs have increased.

• If you pay Fixed services charges these are set at a fixed rate as per your tenancy agreement.
• If you pay Variable charges the amount you pay changes each year depending on how much your services cost.

It may be that you have a different type of tenancy compared to a neighbour which means you may not pay the same service charges.

As part of your service charges, you may contribute towards a sinking fund. This is used to pay for planned major works or non-cyclical works to your building such as window renewal or external decoration.  

This fund reduces the chance of you having to pay significant amounts of money when major works are due. If the work costs more than what is available in the sinking fund, you will be asked to pay your share of the balance. 

You’ll have agreed to pay service charges as part of the terms of your tenancy agreement. If you’d like to talk to use about your charges, get in touch.