Captain Discount completed his original three-year mission last year. During that time, our rents reduced by over 10%* in real terms (i.e. excluding inflation) whilst our Key Tenant Scheme Rent Discounts rose, and more tenants than ever before started claiming them.
But Captain Discount isn’t quite done yet, and he has come back for one final mission.
This year, by increasing Rent Discounts, he is proposing to increase net rents for all tenants with Rent Discounts by just below inflation.
His proposed Rent Increase from April 2024 is a 7.1% increase (which is the October 2023 inflation figure of 6.1% plus 1%), matched with the increases to Key Tenant Scheme Rent Increases shown below, to bring the net Rent Increase down to 6.07%, just under inflation for all tenants receiving Rent Discounts.
Overall, this means annual Key Tenant Scheme Rent Discounts of up to £360 a year would be available to every tenant. At present 86% of tenants claim a monthly Key Tenant Rent Discount, but we would like to see that figure even higher next year.
* We measure the inflation rate using the Retail Price Index (RPI) in November each year. The RPI figure includes housing cost inflation, so is the most appropriate measure in relation to the costs of our business and the services we provide. In 2021, our rent increase was 0.9% below inflation. In 2022, our rent increase was 2% below inflation. In 2023, our rent increase was 7.7% below inflation. The table below shows, for every £100 of rent paid per month in 2020, our average rent is now £11.53 per month, or 10.28% lower, than if it has increased by inflation each year.
** The Retail Price Index figure published by the Office for National Statistics for October 2023 was 6.1%
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