Each year we carry out an ‘annual rent review,’ where we make sure that the rent you pay is in line with current Government legislation. The Government’s 2020 Rent Standard allows an increase of September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%. This year’s CPI is 3.1%, so there will be a 4.1% increase in your rent charge.
The rent that you pay is important as it helps us to care for your home and make sure that it’s safe and comfortable to live in. It also allows us to make improvements to your home, deliver community investment programmes like Better Days and to continue to build urgently needed new affordable homes.
We will formally communicate these changes with you by letter, these will be issued at the end of February and will outline what your new rent and service charges will be. The changes will start on 4 April 2022. For more details, please read our information on rent charges.
Shared ownership rents will be increased as per the terms of your lease, capped at a maximum of 6.8%. For more details, please read our information on rent charges.
Benefits of paying your rent by Direct Debit
If you are not currently paying for your rent via Direct Debit, you can find out more about the benefits of this payment method here. If you haven’t already done so, you can easily setup a Direct Debit through myAccount.
How does this affect Universal Credit?
You will receive a ‘confirm housing costs’ in your Universal Credit (UC) journal to do list which should be completed on 4 April 2022. You will be unable to update the new charge in the UC system before this date, so please keep your rent review letter in a safe place and be sure to update the system on 4 April 2022.
You should complete this by confirming the date of your rent change and the new charge. Please do not do this via the ‘change of circumstances’ option. If you need help updating your UC journal, assistance is available from your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
You may experience some issues if everyone is trying to log on and update their details on the same day, so please keep trying as failure to provide an update may affect your benefit.
If you are experiencing any difficulties help and support is available
If you’re concerned about money, please visit myMoney for details on the various support services we can offer.
Here you can find out more about the support, information, advice and guidance we can offer exclusively to you as an Orbit customer. If you still can’t find the help you need, we can put you in touch with the right people at the right time – get in touch today:
- Fill in our Advice and Support contact form
- Text ‘contact me’ with your name to 07860 017 857 and we will get back in touch with you
- Call us on 0800 678 1221 and press option 1 and then option 4 to speak with one of our team
- We also have celeste on the homepage and LiveChat on the contact us section of our customer website.