Figure it out

• average rent increases landlord by landlord for the year 1997/98;
  
• comparisons by property type between average RSL rents and rents for equivalent sized properties in the local authority and private rented sectors, district by district and
  
• similar comparisons between individual RSL rents also at the district level.

Across the whole RSL stock, rents increased by an average of 4.4 per cent (0.7 per cent in real terms), just below the increase which will be allowable under the new RPI plus 1 regime in force from 1998/99. Within this overall figure, 37 per cent of RSLs, on their own admission, increased rents by more than 4.7 per cent - the figure which will trigger orporation examination this year. The RSLs that increased rents by more than RPI plus 1 tend to be larger, covering almost 50 per cent of the overall stock. On the other hand, their starting rents were lower so absolute rent increases were very similar across the board.

At first sight, the size of these increases is surprising - given the government's emphasis on holding rents down. However many RSLs were probably continuing existing policies on rent structures and improvement before adjusting down next year. Others may simply have taken the last chance for one more significant rise.

At the national level rents by property type across tenures show the expected pattern of lower rents in the local authority sector and significantly higher ones in the private rented sector. It also shows that RSL relet rents are lower than those in the existing stock, suggesting that they are modifying rent structures in response to market pressures. Regional patterns of RSL rents also follow the well known pattern, of high rents in the South and lower in North with almost 50 per cent difference between London and Merseyside.

It is when analysis goes beyond this to district level analysis that the pattern becomes much less consistent - raising the important policy question as to whether decisions should be based on the administrative construct of a region, or take more direct account of local conditions.

It is at district level that inter-tenure comparisons also become meaningful for RSLs and tenants alike. Here, RSL and local authority rents are compared across two-bedroom properties. As is well known, RSL rents are generally higher, and often much higher - although it must be remembered that the dwellings are likely to be much younger and often better maintained. There are however, four authorities where RSL rents are on average lower than local authority rents - three in London and one in Merseyside.

More generally, areas where the difference between RSL and local authority rents is greatest are in the northern half of the country. It would need more analysis to clarify whether these areas also tend to be those where overall demand is relatively low. But the implication is clear - RSLs need to be concerned about their capacity to maintain these higher rents in the face of local authority sector competition.

When comparing RSL and private sector rents for those on housing benefit the relevant property size is one-bedroom units. There are over 50 districts where average rents are higher than those in the private sector. While most of these areas are in the north, especially Yorkshire and Humberside and the North East as well as in the East Midlands there are districts in every region where RSL rents exceed those to be found in the private sector. Again the reasons are about local conditions, notably the availability of an older poorer quality private rented sector, but sometimes because of local economic conditions.

Rent information RSL by RSL shows enormous differences between social landlords across all property sizes at district level. A difference of over £15 a week for a one bedroom unit - which is found in 292 districts - is likely to seem an awful lot to most tenants. The data provide a rich source of information on which both to question specific RSL rents strategies and to act as an input to private finance and national policy determination.

Variations are greatest for smaller units where particularly high differences are concentrated in London and to a lesser extent around Birmingham, Manchester, Merseyside and Newcastle - ie in the older conurbations. The ordering of RSLs also differs very greatly between areas - an RSL providing units with among the highest rents in one locality may be providing among the lowest in another.

These variations arise in part because of differences in the age, financing and indeed the quality of the stock. But the differences are far greater than can be explained on these grounds alone. It is not therefore surprising that government is looking to policies to make rent setting more coherent, and more related to the value that the tenant obtains. What these publications show is first, the need for greater coherence and second, the immense difficulty in moving to that position, without harming too many tenants and too many RSLs in the process.