COUNCIL housing tenants in Welwyn Hatfield will have their rent increased from April this year.

The annual increase in renting a council home will rise by an average of 7.56 per cent.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has said the increase is unavoidable and is set in line with long established central government guidelines.

For every £1 paid by council tenants around 58 pence is spent on services in Welwyn Hatfield. The rest of the money - £17.3m - has to be returned to the Government.

Councillor Roger Trigg, executive member for housing, said: “It is unfortunate that more of the rental income cannot be spent on local housing services, but we will continue to seek efficiencies so that we can deliver the highest quality services possible.

"We are looking forward to new government proposals which should allow greater freedom in rent setting.”

Tenants will receive details of their new weekly rate in February.