Rent and service charges: Scotland

Rent is our main source of income and helps to pay for maintenance, repairs, and housing management, as well as supporting us to continue investing in Communities. Income from rents helps us to keep essential services running and to meet the demand for repairs. In addition, we are continuing to invest in existing homes through major improvement work programmes and are building new homes to meet the increasing need for affordable housing.

Please click here to register or log in to manage your account online. Having an online account makes it even easier to manage your home with us. It's free, easy to register and you get all of these great benefits:  

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You can email inclusion@placesforpeople.co.uk or call us on 01772 666246 and ask for a call back from our Digital Inclusion Team if you need help setting up your online account.

Yes, we recommend you pay your rent by Direct Debit and we can arrange this easily for you over the telephone. This can be set up weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly or monthly. There are no extra charges and you are guaranteed a refund from your bank or building society in the unlikely event that anything goes wrong.

To arrange this please click here or call us on 0131 657 0600. Lines are open 9am-5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am-4pm on Fridays (excluding Bank Holidays).

We want to support customers who may need help if they are experiencing financial difficulty.

If you would like to talk to us about the support available, please contact our Financial Inclusion Team on 0131 657 0600. Lines are open 9am-5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am-4pm on Fridays (excluding Bank Holidays). You can also click here to find help and support available to help with finances.

If you do not receive Housing Benefit or Universal Credit at the moment, you should check whether you are now entitled to it following the change to your charges by visiting www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators or by calling the Universal Credit Service Centre on 0800 328 5644.

The total rent you pay will depend on the type of property and tenancy you have. We have different property and tenancy types and tenancy start dates within the same areas. This sometimes means a difference in rent charges where the properties and tenancy types are not the same. Your rent is reviewed in line with the terms set out in your tenancy agreement, but if you think something is wrong, please contact us.

Your rent charge is calculated in accordance with the Places for People Affordable Housing Rent and Service Charge Policy. Each property has “rent points”, based on the size and attributes of the property. The total number of rent points is then multiplied by the “price per point” to calculate the rent charge. The amount you pay will also depend on the type of agreement you have and the start date of the tenancy.  If you do not know what type of agreement you have, your tenancy or lease agreement will tell you, or you can ask us.

Scottish Secure Tenancies (SST), Short SSTs and Occupancy Agreements

Our rent policy allows for a maximum increase of September’s RPI plus 1%. The RPI is the Retail Price Index. This represents the increase in the cost of goods and services in the previous 12 months and is published each month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The RPI figure in September 2023 was 8.9%, allowing for a rent increase of up to 9.9%. However, the increase set for 2024 has been set to 7.7%.

Further information on rent setting, can be found in our Rent and Service Charge Policy, which is available on request, just send us an email to PFPScustomer@placesforpeople.co.uk or call us on 0131 657 0600.  Lines are open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday from 9am to 4pm (excluding Bank Holidays).

Shared Ownership

Occupancy Charges for Shared Ownership are calculated using the rent policy noted above but are subject to deductions for property management, as Sharing Owners are responsible for their own property management. The charge is then applied for the % of the property owned, either 25%, 50% or 75%. A breakdown of the calculation is included with the annual increase letter.

If your property is factored, your insurance charge and other factored services will be sent to you by your factor and are not included within this Occupancy Charge.

Service charges are for services provided to you that are not covered by the rent charge. These include charges for landscaping, communal cleaning, lighting, power and furnishings in common areas, care and support provided by other agencies as part of your agreement, personal heating where your development has a communal heating boiler and an administration charge for managing these.

Since 2013 we have included some service charges within the rent charge. We did this by setting a number of rent points for each category of services. From April 2024, to make our charges clearer, we will be removing any service charge costs from being included in the rent charge and will show these as individual charges. We asked Customers as part of our rent review consultation whether they agreed with this proposal and the majority of respondents agreed.

Service charges are based on the actual cost when known, or an estimated cost based on a budget where the actual cost is not known. There is no profit included in service charge amounts.

We will let you know if your services can be paid by Housing Benefit in the breakdown included with your increase letter. Services noted as “HBE” (Housing Benefit Eligible) can be paid, and those noted as “HBI” (Housing Benefit Ineligible) cannot. This is decided by Housing Benefit Regulations.

For those in receipt of Universal Credit (which includes a housing cost element) there may be some differences from Housing Benefit. If you have a query with your service charge eligibility you should contact the Universal Credit helpline 0800 328 5644 in the first instance.

If you do not receive Housing Benefit or Universal Credit at the moment, you should check whether you are now entitled to it following the change to your charges by clicking here or by calling the Universal Credit helpline 0800 328 5644.

These charges are based on the usage taken from meter readings and contract prices set by the utility companies. Our energy contracts have recently been renewed and include higher energy rate charges than our previous contracts and means the cost to you is likely to increase for the energy used in 2024 to 2025.

This is to cover management costs such as our people’s time, systems, and offices in order to deliver the services provided. 

These are the questions asked most often by our customers. If you have a question that is not listed above, or you would like to discuss a question further please:

• Send us an email to PFPScustomer@placesforpeople.co.uk
• Call us on 0131 657 0600. Lines are open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday from 9am to 4pm (excluding Bank Holidays).