The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations is consulting its pension scheme members on a 2.8% increase in contributions.
The raise would take combined employer and employee contributions to 21% from April.
The Pensions Trust, which runs the £143m scheme, wrote to members this month to ask how the increase should be split between staff and employers. The consultation will end on 31 July and a decision will be made in September.
The deficit, valued on 30 September 2003, has grown £12.7m since the previous valuation three years earlier.
Trevor Smith, consultant to the chief executive of the Pensions Trust, attributed the increased deficit to poor stock market performance last year and longer life expectancy of pensioners.
However, he said the fund's performance had picked up since the valuation was taken.
"The initial sounding we have got is that members have accepted they will have to pay more," he said.
He added that the trust was not anticipating changing scheme benefits, such as payments to relations for death in service, but members could request these alterations in the consultation.
The scheme has 3900 members currently working and making contributions and only 575 drawing pensions, which helps to minimise payouts and increase income.
Donald McAndie, finance director of Castle Rock Housing Association, which is a member, said his association proposed raising employer contributions by 2% and employee input by 0.8%.
"We are going to put this to our committee over the next few weeks. It's a very big benefit and not so many industries have it any more so maybe the staff could be asked for part of it.
"It's final salary and better than anything else in the market."
He said Castle Rock did not have any plans to leave the scheme. "We want to keep it open for everyone but it really depends who wants to close it. It would be tragic if half the associations said we don't want to [raise the rates] and pulled out of the scheme."
Source
Housing Today
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