Rent increases and other charges

Rent charges for 2025

Council rents for 2025/26 will increase by 2.7% to help make sure we can take care of your home, deliver frontline services and address the issues you tell us matter to you. 

A 2.7% increase means the average weekly rent in Islington will increase by £3.69. This increase is in line with the Social Housing Regulators’ standards for social landlords of increasing rents by the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) - which this year was 1.7% - plus 1%.

Your rent pays for the cost of maintaining and managing your home, and we invest every penny back into homes and communities.

Higher costs are making it more expensive for us to deliver services such as repairs and maintenance and investments in your home. Our budgets are tight, but we are prioritising investing in safety and tackling damp and mould

What you will pay from 7 April 2025

The new charges are shown in your rent charge change letter. 

The total weekly amount charged does not include costs for parking/storage facilities and Housing Benefit entitlement (where applicable). The full breakdown of charges will be on your next statement which you will receive by 7 April 2025.

Service charges

On an annual 52 week basis, the weekly tenant service charge for caretaking and estate services is increasing from £19.31 to £21.41, an increase of £2.10 per week. The overall tenant service charge is increasing by 10.8%, primarily due to increased staffing costs, driven by the national pay award for staff in lower bands of pay and additional national insurance contributions.

From 7 April 2025 the charges are as follows:

• Caretaking: £14.89
• Estate services: £6.52*

*Estate services include communal lighting, repairs and grounds maintenance.

Refund policy

Where there has been a total loss of the caretaking service for more than five consecutive working days a refund will be issued.

The refund rate from 7 April 2025 will be £3.82 per day from the sixth working day of the service loss until the restoration of the service. Refunds will be paid into your rent account (after any Housing Benefit adjustment).

Tenants can request a refund by contacting tenancy services on 020 7527 5300 or at HomesAndCommunities@islington.gov.uk.

Concierge charges

If you receive a concierge and CCTV service there are four levels of charging based on the criteria of where you live:

• Category A - in the same block as the concierge and using the access which is covered by the concierge office
• Category B - on the same estate as the concierge, but not falling within category A
• Category C - remote (multiple cameras)
• Category D - remote (a smaller number of cameras)

Charges have increased by 7.91% primarily to reflect the increase in staffing costs. 

Weekly charges from 7 April 2025 are:

• Category A: £20.98
• Category B: £15.76
• Category C: £9.46
• Category D: £2.97

Digital TV

The weekly charge for ongoing maintenance costs for digital TV aerials have remained unchanged from 2024/2025 rates at 22p per week.

From 7 April 2025 the weekly charge for ongoing maintenance is £0.22.

Heating charges

A small decrease has been applied to communal heating charges this year, despite a small increase in the cost of gas being expected in the coming year. This is because we continually review the overall cost of the service, including actual consumption, to ensure our charges are set to accurately reflect our costs.

This means that tenant charges for this service will be lower in 2025/26. Net costs this year have reduced 7.54%.

Parking charges

For rent and service charge payers* the parking charges will increase by 1.7% in 2025/26. Charges are based on a vehicle’s carbon emissions and engine size.

When parking permits or garage letting agreements are renewed, we will check the vehicle emission band to make sure you are being charged the right amount. We will write to let you know if there are any changes. Concessions for Islington Council residents that hold a disability Blue Badge parking permit issued by either Islington Council or another local authority will remain the same, i.e. 50% or 100% depending on the qualification criteria.

In addition to weekly estate parking charges, a surcharge of £172.89 per year (£3.32 per week) will be charged for all vehicles that use diesel fuel. 

The below charges are applicable from 7 April 2025. All tenants renting a parking facility will receive a separate letter detailing their specific charges. 

Charges for 2025/26

Emission bands

Engine information	Emission bands
Carbon emission and engine sizes	A	B	C	D
Carbon CO2 rating g/km (grams per kilometre)	1-120	121-150	151-185	186+
Engine size cc (cylinder capacity)	up to 1100	1101-1399	1400-1850	1851+

Standard charges for tenants and resident service charge payers* (weekly charges £)

Emission bands	A	B	C	D
Garage	12.13	24.27	24.27	26.70
Car cage	5.67	11.35	11.35	12.48
Parking space	3.10	6.18	6.18	6.80
Internal garage	16.72	16.72	16.72	16.72
Garages used for non-vehicle storage	26.70	26.70	26.70	26.70

Islington borough residents and non-residents** (weekly charges £)

Engine/parking type	Emission bands
Carbon emission and engine sizes	A	B	C	D
Garage	27.28	54.47	54.47	59.89
Car cage	12.78	25.46	25.46	28.02
Parking space	7.50	15.97	15.97	21.97
Garages used for non-vehicle storage	55.54	55.54	55.54	55.54

The council is also continuing its policy to reduce estate parking charges by one band for registered taxi (black cab) drivers, as they have little choice in the vehicle they use. 

Tenant and resident service charge payers* with electric vehicles continue to have free access to Islington council estate parking facilities. Islington borough residents and non-residents** will continue to be charged at Band A rates.

* This includes all Islington council tenants, members of their household and leaseholders/freeholders who pay service charges to Islington Council for the home that they live in. 

** This includes any Islington borough residents who do not qualify for the standard charge rate for tenants and resident service charge payers* and out of borough residents. 

Rent statements 

The next rent statement will be sent out in March and will include a full breakdown of the rent charges applicable from 7 April 2025, as well as details of Housing Benefit entitlement (where applicable).

Tenants should receive your rent statement and new payment calendar to record your payments before 7 April 2025.

If you need help working out the weekly amount you need to pay, contact helpwithrent@islington.gov.uk.

Housing Benefit

Tenants who receive Housing Benefit will receive a letter from the Benefits Service that will give details of the new benefit entitlement and the revised amount that should be paid each week.

For Housing Benefit applications or enquiries please call 020 7527 4990, or download an application form.

If you are making a new claim for Housing Benefit and are of working age you may need to claim Universal Credit instead.

Universal Credit

Tenants who receive Universal Credit must inform the Department for Work and Pensions of any changes in their rent charges.

Tenants should keep their letter safe for April. Wait for the ‘Confirm your housing costs’ to-do in April, then use the letter to complete it before the due date to avoid payment issues. Only use the ‘Confirm your housing costs’ to-do to report these changes. Do not contact Universal Credit any other way. 

Report this change by signing into your Universal Credit account online or calling 0800 328 5644. 

Direct Debit payers

Residents who pay by Direct Debit will receive a letter setting out the revised payment details with effect from 7 April 2025.

Support to help you cope with rent payments

If you are worried about how you are going to manage your rent payments, please get in touch, we can help.  Please do not ignore your rent payments.

Get in touch with your Income Recovery team:

• Email: helpwithrent@islington.gov.uk 
• Phone: 020 7527 5300

The Income Maximisation team (iMAX) can support you to claim benefits/check you are receiving the correct money:

• Email: claimit@islington.gov.uk
• Phone: 020 7527 8600

Paying your rent by Direct Debit

The easiest way to pay your rent is by Direct Debit. Most bank or building society accounts including basic bank accounts can be used to make payments by Direct Debit. Some of the advantages of paying by Direct Debit are:

• payments are made for you by your bank or building society
• no queuing at the post office or other pay points
• your payments will be received on time each month
• no paperwork or postage costs

Switch to paying your rent by Direct Debit for the first time and we will credit your rent account with a £10 payment for switching.