Rents are reviewed annually as specified in your tenancy agreement. The amount we can increase rents by is regulated by the government and linked to the consumer price index (CPI) which tracks the average increase in costs that consumers pay for goods and services. 

CPI is the consumer price index (published monthly by the Office for National Statistics). The rent regulations require the use of the CPI for September 2025, which was 3.8%.

The current regulations limit rent increases to CPI +1%, so rents will be increased by 4.8% in April 2026.

Shared Ownership rents for homes built pre-12th October 2023 are reviewed annually as specified in your tenancy agreement and are linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI).

 RPI is the Retail Price Index (published monthly by the Office of National Statistics). 

The RPI for September 2025 was 4.5%. This means that shared ownership rents (prior to 12th October 2023) will increase by 5.0% from April 2026. This is based on the RPI +½% formula).

Example rent review calculation:

Note: The example above is for illustration purposes only. Your actual weekly or monthly rent and service charge may differ and are detailed in the rent increase notification letter we have sent you.

CPI is the consumer price index, published monthly by the Office for National Statistics.

The CPI measures how much the average cost of a ‘basket’ of household consumer goods and services has changed over time.

For more detail visit the ONS website at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices.

For rent calculation purposes the September CPI is used. The CPI for September 2025 was 3.8%. 

If you pay by Direct Debit and/or Housing Benefit

Your payments will be adjusted automatically to reflect your new rent and service charges, so you don’t need to do anything.

If you pay by Standing Order

You will need to contact your bank in advance of your next payment to ask them to adjust your payment.

If you pay by Universal Credit

You need to update your new rent on your Universal Credit account by completing a ‘Confirm your housing costs’ to-do within your journal. You should do this on 6th April 2026 or as soon as possible after that date but no later than the end of your monthly assessment period. If you get your Universal Credit paid direct to Halton Housing, you will still need to report the increase. We have enclosed a guide to show you how to do this. If you don’t report the change in your rent, Universal Credit will not increase the housing cost element, and you will have to pay the shortfall in your rent.

If you pay online, by phone or text, by post or at a pay point

You will need to adjust what you pay to the amount stated in your letter.

There are many easy ways to pay your rent - you can see them all here.

If you would like help changing the way you pay, get in touch

We are committed to supporting you when you face financial difficulties and encourage you to contact us straight away if you are struggling. We have a range of help available from specialist teams here to help you agree affordable repayment options to advice on claiming benefits, maximising your income, and reducing debts to manage repayments. 

Contact our Welfare Benefit/Money Advice Team on 0151 510 5024 or Rent Support Team on 0151 510 5204. 

Your rent helps pay for the services we provide to you. 

For more details, please see our ‘Rent increase explained 2026-2027 leaflet’ you received alongside your rent increase notification letter.

Some tenants pay charges for extra services, particularly in blocks of flats, estates or sheltered housing schemes.

If you do pay a service charge, your rent letter will include your service charges for 2026 and whether there is an increase. 

Service charges are not regulated in the same way as rents; service charges reflect the actual cost of providing the service, so service charges can increase (or sometimes decrease) based on inflation (for fixed service charges), or changes in the cost of contracts or service needs.

For the year commencing April 2026, Halton Housing will be capping service charge increases*. This cap will ensure that, even if the cost of delivering the service exceeds it, customers will pay no more than an additional £2.00 per week for services than they did in 2025. 

*This only applies for customers who rent their home and excludes shared ownership or leasehold tenancies.