How we set rents

How we set rents


We’re a social business.

This means that we still charge rent for using the homes we own. Without rents, we couldn’t run our business.

But our rents are discounted. This is because our aim is to help you when you’re priced out of the private market.

We don’t make a profit from our rents and we don’t have shareholders.

To look at how you rent is set and what it covers…

Your rent is based on the market value of your home when you moved in, but with a discount because we’re a not for profit.

How much discount we can give you depends on a few factors. Things like:

  • When your home was built.
  • How it was funded originally.
  • Government policies at the time.

Your rent will be approx. 20-35% cheaper than what it would’ve been on the private market.

Because we’re a social business, we collect approx. £22m less in rent per year than a private landlord would for the same homes.

To ask for more details on how we calculated the rent for your home specifically, click here.

You rent covers the cost of your home - this means:

  • Day-to-day repairs
  • Servicing equipment, doing safety checks and maintenance
  • Budgeting for long-term maintenance
  • Fair wages for our team*
  • Paying back the loans we took out to build your home
  • Supporting community services that help our customers (e.g. Citizens Advice)

Our top priority and biggest costs are repairs and maintenance.

Last year, almost half of your rents were spent on maintenance (just under £14m in total).

Depending when your home was built, your rent might also include service charges. It will tell you on your annual rent booklet, but feel free to ask us if you’re not sure.

Everyone’s situation is different. We can’t run at a loss, but we’re here to help people.

We look at these things to keep rents as affordable as we can:

  • Government guidance– the Government gives housing associations a steer how to set rents. They set formulas for some rents and every year they set a limit on rent increases.
  • Below benefits– B3Living also has a policy to make sure our rents don’t go over the amount you claim in housing benefit (this is called the Local Housing Allowance). If the rent comes out higher, we lower it to match the Allowance.
  • Service charges cap– you might see a ‘Keeping things affordable’ cap on your service charges. This means your service charges won’t go up by more than £3 per week.*
  • We ask you– every year we run a consultation in November to find out what your priorities are and how rent changes might affect you. Please join us next year!

*Note: this cap doesn't apply to utility service charges (heating / electricity).

Your rent is based on the share of your home that we still own.

Your rent is calculated as a % of what that share was worth at the time you bought your home.

Usually this is approx. 2.75%-3%.

Every home is different, so the best place to check is your lease.

Your lease will also explain how much your rent can go up year on year.

Shared ownership is a government scheme. So, we follow their guidelines and rules when setting rents. You can find out more here.

If something doesn’t look right, or you have a question about your rent, click here.

Your rent covers the share of your home that you haven’t bought yet.

It’s likely that we would’ve taken out loans to help build your home.

Your rent helps us to pay these back and cover other costs.

Your mortgage payments are separate to your rents.

Your mortgage will be based on the value of the share you have bought.

Related Links

We’re always happy to give you a more detailed breakdown of how the rent for your home is calculated if you have any questions. Click here to submit a query