Resource Centre and Tenant Levy

Status: Closed

The Resource Centre is a base for WRAG, SHRG and associations representing the tenants of Wealden District Council and provides an office for the Tenant Involvement Team.

There have been some discussions between WRAG and Housing Services at Wealden DC about the future of the Resource Centre and we have agreed to help find another office to allow the current base in Horam to be converted to much needed social housing. We are looking at ways that we can provide some financial help with rent and associated costs and would like your views on some options that have been mentioned;

1. One suggestion to help is a “tenants’ levy”. This would be an additional charge on the rent and could be a compulsory charge, in which case every tenant would be charged whether or not they agreed with funding the Resource Centre. The advantage would be that the income would be known and guaranteed.
2. Another way would be for the tenants’ levy to be voluntary. While this means the income would be variable, it would mean that those who value the Resource Centre can support it. A shortfall would have to be met from other housing budgets where spending has already been committed.Ideally, the levy would cover the resource centre’s costs and at this stage and we estimate the charge would be in the region of 6p to 20p per household per week over a 48 week year depending upon the cost of the premises found for the centre.
3. If funding comes from existing housing budgets, the most likely source of funds would be from the capital budget that funds improvements such as replacement windows, kitchens and bathrooms, for instance. The advantage is that the income would be guarantee

If we proceed with the tenant levy, this will be subject to a more detailed consultation when costs are known. All we are doing at this stage is gauging opinion and a more detailed consultation with tenants will be necessary before we proceed.

For key findings and changes made see results below:

Topics covered by this consultation:

Council housing

Consultation Start Date: 20/06/2011

Consultation End Date: 22/07/2011

Results expected by: 11/08/2011

Please note: these dates are subject to change.

Areas covered by this consultation:

Wealden District (All)

Target audience for this consultation:

Housing Tenants

Frequency of this consultation: One-off

Methods of consultation used:

Online (All Public)

What Happens Next?

The results will help us decide whether in principle a tenant levy is supported and lead to a more detailed consultation in due course if we decide to proceed.