RESOLVED

That Full Council be recommended to approve change in garage and storage cupboard fees, as detailed in Section 5 report CEX/59 and to:

a)            Increase rental fees with effect from 1 December 2022, with no further increase until April 2024 as follows:

i)       weekly garage rental costs for Crawley Homes tenants,

ii)      weekly garage rental cost for Private Tenants residing in Crawley

iii)     weekly rental costs of storage cupboards

b)            Introduce an additional charge for Crawley Homes tenants and Crawley resident private tenants with three or more garages.

c)            Introduce a new non-Crawley Borough resident weekly garage rental cost.

d)            Introduce an additional charge for non-Crawley Borough residents with two or more garages. 

e)            Remove the previous multi garage discount from any remaining accounts.

Reasons for the Recommendations

The Budget Strategy 2023/24 – 2027/28 (FIN/583) elsewhere on this agenda identifies in Table 3 an initial budget gap of £240,000 in 2023/24, this rises to £419,000 in 2024/25.  This assumes an increase in fees and charges of 5% on average, as financially modelled.  Table 9 in the same report identifies some sensitivity analysis and shows large increases in the gap should the pay award for Local Government employees be higher or inflation be higher, or further pressure on providing temporary accommodation for those we owe a duty - therefore additional income from garages would support meeting future gaps.