This section covers value for money, rents and service charges.
The average weekly rent increase applied for financial year 2023-24 was 3% compared to the Scottish Local Authority average 3.8%.
Percentage of tenants who feel their rent represents good value for money
| 2016 | 2019 | 2023 | Scottish LA Average |
| 93.23% | 86.02% | 94.66% | 81.9% |
The percentage of tenants who feel their rent is good value for money has improved significantly since we carried out the last tenant satisfaction survey in 2019. We are also comparing well against the Scottish LA average. It is encouraging to see that we continue to maintain a lower weekly rent charge at £77.49, compared to the Scottish LA average of £81.02.
Average time in calendar days taken to re-let properties
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | Scottish LA Average |
| 39.93 | 32.55 | 47.04 | 66.9 |
The average days taken to re-let our properties have significantly increased in 2022/23 compared to previous years. Our recovery from the pandemic has taken longer than anticipated, this is a Scotland wide issue with most local authorities seeing an increase in their void times. It is encouraging to see that despite reduced performance, we are still comparing well against the Scottish LA average.
Rent collected
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | Scottish LA Average | |
| Rent collected as percentage of total rent due | 98.85% | 98.75% | 98.02% | 98.8% |
Similar to last year, we see a slight drop in performance compared to the previous year. We have also fallen to just below the Scottish LA average. We appreciate that tenants have been affected by the cost of living crisis and have struggled to pay their household bills. Our housing officers work in small patches and try to engage with tenants as quickly as possible to help them keep up their rent payments.
Rent Arrears
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | Scottish LA Average | |
| Rent arrears as percentage of total rent due | 9.56% | 10.66% | 11.51% | 9.6% |
For some of our tenants, the ability to pay rent has been impacted by the cost of living crisis and we accept that this will impact our overall ability to collect rent. Our housing officers continue to work closely with tenants to help them make payment arrangements that are manageable, they also signpost tenants to organisations that can offer them suitable support.
Void Rent Loss
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | Scottish LA Average | |
| % of rent due lost through properties being empty | 0.94% | 0.66% | 1.02% | 1.7% |
The average time to re-let our properties increased in 2022/23, this means properties were empty for longer and accrued a higher void rent loss than in previous years, however, we are still performing well against the Scottish LA average. We hope to see an improvement in re-let times next year which will bring the rent lost due to voids down.
Former Tenant arrears written off
| Year | Total Value | Percentage |
| 2020/21 | £79,554 | 6.75% |
| 2021/22 | £0 | 0% |
| 2022/23 | £0 | 0% |
| Scottish LA Average | 22.6% |
We procured additional software to work alongside Rentsense (our current rent arrear management system) which went live in September 2022. We continue to use this additional software which assists Housing Officers with a targeted approach when collecting former tenant rent arrears.
Housing
Kilncraigs, Greenside Street, Alloa, FK10 1EB
Tel: 01259 450000
Email: housing@clacks.gov.uk