Council tenants in Winchester are facing a rent rise of 4% from April.

The city council's cabinet has approved a mean increase of just over £2 which takes the average weekly payment for the 5,300 households affected to £56.28.

It also gave the go-ahead for restructuring of rents in line with a new government formula..

It means that, from next year, property value, national average earnings and local earnings will be used to calculate the rents in future.

The new system is intended to be fairer to all tenants and the hope is that local authorities will make modest increases in future and that the calculation will also take account of the Retail Price Index.

Although the guidelines are not mandatory, the government is assuming that all local authorities will apply the formula in the spring because that's when it intends to withdraw an equivalent amount of subsidy.

Housing associations are also expected to amend their rents to the new formula.

City council housing officers will meet with six tenants' associations over the next three months to explain the impact of the new system.

They will also hold tenants meetings in areas which do not currently have tenant representation to answer questions.

Full details of the new scheme will also be published in the next edition of the tenants' newspaper. Responding to concerns raised by tenant representatives, cabinet members heard that the council needed to maintain rent income to protect the council's repairs programme, as well as maintaining balances at a level to meet future spending requirements.

There will be no increase in garage rents, as a detailed review is currently under way on their management and maintenance.

Similarly, there will be no increase in service charges for tenants in sheltered accommodation, pending further government guidance due next year.