Council house rents to rise

Orkney Islands Council looks set to increase council house rent by 3.6 per cent in a move that would boost the local authority’s coffers by £90,000.

Members of the education, leisure and housing committee voted overwhelmingly for the rise, which is an increase of the Retail Price Index (RPI) of 2.6 per cent, plus one per cent.

The committee heard that the rent increase would cover the cost of managing and maintaining the council’s housing stock, ensure that existing council houses met government standards, and go towards the cost of borrowing money to finance the OIC house building programme.