What West Northamptonshire Council is proposing for the next budget, including rent increases and £12 million for road improvements

Councillors will meet on Tuesday December 10 to discuss the proposals, relating to the budget for the 2025/2026 financial year. Once discussed, a six-week public consultation will be launched.

Among the proposals are a number of investments in social housing including £7 million earmarked for internal improvements, £39 million for new build programmes, an increase on rent on social housing properties by 2.7 percent, a council tax increase of 4.9 percent, investments in projects such as the Greyfriars redevelopment, £2 million for new family hubs and ANPR in more car parks.

Housing

The council says there are plans to invest £77 million in social housing during the next financial year. This money will come from funding from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which will be spent on maintaining and improving social housing, including building new homes.

This comes after the government’s housing regulator found “serious failings” in how social housing is managed in Northampton. The council was told it needed to make “significant improvement”, after issues were raised with the safety and maintenance of social housing, which is run by Northampton Partnership Homes.

The proposed investment includes:

• £8 million on external improvements
• £7 million on internal improvements
• £6 million on structural works and compliance
• £3 million on energy efficiency, heating and ventilation and window improvements
• £2.3 million on disabled adaptions
• £39 million on new build programmes and major projects
• £10 million on buying back social housing and acquisitions of suitable properties

The proposal also includes a rent increase of 2.7 percent, which the council says is in accordance with the government’s amended rent standard. It is proposed that this will come into effect from April 1, 2025. This is expected to see the average rent increase from £111.79 to £114.80 per week.

Councillor Rosie Herring, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “We understand the pressures the rising cost of living places on our residents, and we do not take any proposed rent increase lightly. However, rent income is vital to maintaining and improving the quality of our current homes and delivering much-needed new housing across West Northamptonshire.

“This proposed increase ensures we can continue to invest in vital projects, from energy efficiency upgrades and structural improvements to the development of new homes.

“We encourage all residents to share their views during the consultation process, and we remain committed to balancing affordability with the responsibility of providing safe, quality housing for our communities.”

£100 million capital programme

WNC is also proposing a number of other investments, including a significant chunk for improving roads and a sum to create family hubs.

The capital programme is separate to the council’s revenue budget, which funds services such as waste collection and social care. Capital funding is used to improve infrastructure and assets, as well as projects to deliver long-term benefits.

The proposed investment includes:

• £12.4 million to improve highways
• Multi-million pound investment in the Greyfriars redevelopment
• ANPR added to certain car parks, including Sixfields Reservoir, Racecourse, and Primrose Hill car park to improve “parking convenience and safety”
• £2 million towards the creation of new family hubs in Daventry and Northampton, to provide essential services
• £10 million for housing (separate to the above mentioned HRA funds) to address the need for temporary accommodation. The council says this money will allow the purchase of 50 properties for residents facing urgent needs

Councillor Adam Brown, leader of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “Using capital budgets to not only improve our local communities but help us make ongoing savings or generate new income is something we’re particularly focusing on.

“This is about more than infrastructure; it’s about building a West Northamptonshire that works for everyone.

“Undertaking these transformative initiatives supports our aims for a sustainable, prosperous and vibrant West Northants, with innovation and efficiency going hand in hand.”

Council tax increase

The proposals also include an increase in council tax for WNC of 2.99 percent, plus an increase of two percent on the adult social care precept, which totals an increase of 4.99 percent. The average proposed increase on a Band D property across the area would be £88.73 or £1.71 per week.

According to the council papers, the increase will contribute around £19.2 million per year.

The council says the increase will help to “maintain and protect the required levels of service provision”.

The proposed increase has been set in line with the assumed continuation of the current referendum threshold limits and legislative guidance previously set, which means the proposed increase is in line with the maximum increase permitted by the government without the need for a referendum.

At the start of the current financial year (2024/2025), the council approved a budget which saw the same increase – 4.99 percent, which equated to a yearly increase of £84.53 for a Band D property. If the latest proposed increase is approved, council tax will have risen by nearly 10 percent in the space of two years.

The police, fire and crime commissioner has also launched a public consultation on a proposed 4.9 percent increase for the police precept and 6.6 percent for the fire precept, which equates to a combined, additional £20 a year for a Band D property, for the 2025/2026 financial year.

What happens next?

All of the above proposals will be discussed at the cabinet meeting on December 10 at The Forum in Towcester. The meeting will be streamed live on the WNC YouTube channel.

Following the meeting, a six-week public consultation will launch on December 11 to give residents the chance to have their say.

Cabinet will consider the final budget on February 11, 2025 and then full council will consider it on February 20, 2025.

The full 2025/26 draft budget reports are available to view online on the council’s website.