The council last week received a report from property and facilities officer Janice Remnant about proposed rent increases for the 98 council-owned units in Alexandra, Clyde, Cromwell, Roxburgh and Ranfurly.
The council previously had a cap of $6 a year for rent increases, but removed that in the 2016-17 year to remedy the disparity of new tenants paying more than long-term tenants. A $5 ''shortfall catchup'' was also implemented the same year, in addition to any market rent increase.
For the 2017-18 year, the combined increase (of the shortfall catch-up and any market increase) would be between $3 to $5 a week for Alexandra units, $3 in Clyde, $5 in Roxburgh and Ranfurly and $10-$25 in Cromwell.
Mr Cadogan said the Cromwell increase would be hard for tenants to cope with, on top of an increase of between $19 and $30 for tenants there last year.
He put a motion for the Cromwell increase to be delayed until a review of the council's social housing policy had been done, but only he and councillors Malcolm Topliss and Victoria Bonham voted for it.
Cr Neil Gillespie said the Cromwell housing market had gone ''ballistic'' and many sectors were hurting financially. He said he was ''torn'', as he sympathised with elderly people struggling on fixed incomes, but ''that [financial difficulty] can apply to a whole lot of other people too, and we can't make it right for everybody''.
Councillors acknowledged the increases may be significant for some tenants, but noted the Ministry of Social Development's accommodation supplement was available to assist with rental costs.
Tenants will be sent their first letter about the increase by June 30, advising of rental increases effective from September 1 this year.
A second notification letter will be posted on August 21 as a follow up.
Work and Income will be supplied with the rent details of each rental unit to enable follow-ups with clients to ensure the appropriate accommodation supplement is being paid.
Council chief executive officer Leanne Mash said a review of the council's elderly housing policy was being done within the next 12 months.
