PROPOSALS to increase council house rents in the county by up to six per cent are being put before tenants as East Lothian Council tries to bring in more funds for housing stock improvements.

The council’s annual rent survey asks tenants whether they would be happy to consider the increase, which would lead to an average rent rise of £3.26 per week.

However, the move has been criticised by Councillor Stuart Currie, leader of the opposition SNP Group on East Lothian Council, who pointed out that the local authority set aside more than £10million for housing improvements in its budget in February and to date had only spent £3.1million of it.

Council rents in East Lothian are the second lowest in the country, with the average charge for a three-bedroom property currently standing at £50.35 a week – 10 per cent below neighbouring Midlothian Council’s charges.

For the past few years, the annual rent increase has been held at 4.3 per cent and last year 84 per cent of tenants approved that increase as acceptable.

This year the rent survey offers 4.3 per cent as an option, but asks tenants to consider an increase of 5.5 per cent and 6 per cent as alternatives.

It tells them: “Rent levels in East Lothian are low compared to other local authorities and neighbouring councils.

“We are keen to deliver the highest level of service standards that we can afford to our tenants in East Lothian and feel that the time is right to consider a higher level of rent increase beyond the recent 4.3 per cent we have applied in recent years in line with the existing approved council budget.

“We therefore want to hear your views on this and our proposed options for this year’s rent increase.” The survey tells tenants the annual 4.3 per cent increase would increase spending on modernisation and improvements by up to 28 per cent next year, while an additional increase of 6 per cent might allow them to increase spending by up to 45 per cent.

But Mr Currie said that, with the council so far behind in its current spending on modernising and upgrading houses, it was questionable whether they needed a further increase in rents.

He claimed that modernisations were currently not being done at a quick enough rate and meant money would be left over at the end of the financial year.

Jim Lamond, the local authority’s head of council resources, said last week in a cabinet report: “The 2014/15 budget includes £10.231m relating to modernisation improvements.

“The actual expenditure incurred in September was £3.134m, representing 30 per cent of the budget.

“Despite the slippage, it is expected that most of the larger budgets are expected to deliver broadly in line with expectations.” Councillor Norman Hampshire, the local authority’s spokesman for housing, told the Courier: “We have tried hard to keep rent increases down over the past few years – in fact, we charge some of the lowest local authority rents anywhere in Scotland.

“What we’re looking for here is to increase rents slightly more than usual, and, while still keeping the level relatively low, ensuring that we have the extra finance we need to invest in our home improvement programmes.” The increase is to allow the council to invest in improving a number of homes in areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

At the same time, homes could become more energy efficient, with tenants then potentially saving money through lower fuel bills.

Mr Hampshire stressed: “The additional money we raise through the increase would be invested in our homes and would directly benefit our tenants.” Consultation on the proposal is now open and runs through until January 9. The results will be used to prepare a report for the full council in February ahead of setting the council’s budget for the coming year.

The new rent rates will come into effect on April 6, 2015. The local authority’s housing stock numbers approximately 8,500 properties.

To have your say go to www.eastlothian.gov.uk/rentsurvey