Council tenants in Stoke-on-Trent will see their rents go up by 4.8 per cent from April.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is proposing the increase for council housing rents and facility charges for garages in 2026/27 in line with government policy.

This will equate to an average increase of £4.29 a week for the council's 17,000 tenants.

Government guidance states that councils can increase their rents by a maximum of the CPI inflation rate in September (3.8 per cent), plus one per cent.

According to a council report, increasing rent by less than the maximum would reduce income to the housing revenue account (HRA), potentially affecting services such as repairs.

The report states: "Should rents be increased by anything less than proposed, then consideration would have to be given to further reducing the level of service, such as day-to-day repairs and void standards, or major investment programmes of work to modernise and maintain existing homes, along with much needed investment to make homes warmer and more efficient, to regenerate our communities, and to provide new homes in the city."

Cabinet members will rubberstamp the proposed rent increase at their meeting on Tuesday.

They will also be asked to approve the implementation of 'rent convergence', once the government publishes details on the policy later this month.

This will result in additional rent increases for properties currently charged below 'formula rent' – this will affect 15,003 of the council's homes.

The government says that rent convergence, which was previously in place between 2002 and 2015, will unlock additional investment in social housing.

According to the council report, a convergence rate of £1 a week would bring 83 per cent of the council's housing stock to formula rent by 2036, generating an extra £37 million for the HRA.

The council is also set to continue its £50,000 financial independence fund for a further year.

The fund is used to support council tenants who are in financial difficulty, helping them sustain their tenancies.

In his report to the cabinet, Cllr Chris Robinson, cabinet for housing, states: "The council presents its rents settlement for 2026/27 in acknowledgement of the current cost pressures and financial challenges to tenants, aiming to protect our most vulnerable tenants by building on the successes of government schemes such as the Household Support Fund and homeless prevention, with the Financial Independence scheme offering creative solutions to council tenants who are in financial difficulty, either facing an immediate crisis, or who would benefit from short-term assistance to help sustain their tenancy."