We estimate that the cost for meeting the Carmarthenshire Homes Standard by 2014 will be £234 million. The main sources of funding come from:

• a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government, known as the major repairs allowance;
• selling council housing through the Right to Buy scheme;
• selling other assets such as plots of land; and
• borrowing.

The amount we can borrow largely depends on how much we can afford to pay back. Financially, this influences how much work we can do each year. The diagram below shows how much we expect to spend each year on work to meet the Carmarthenshire Homes Standard.

As the diagram clearly shows, we will be increasing the level of spending each year, eventually spending over £35 million in 2011/2012.

As an example of where the money will go, the table below shows which improvements we expect to spend money on over the next three years.

How will the improvements affect your rent?

We have worked out that we can fund the cost of making improvements without increasing your rent above the level set by the Welsh Assembly Government.

However, your rent may increase if we are changing your heating from central heating which heats part of your home (partial central heating) to central heating which heats all of your home (full central heating). This is because we work out rent on a points system, with five points for partial central heating and 10 points for full central heating.

This year, each point is equal to 81.25 pence. As a result, changing from partial to full central heating would result in an increase of just over £4 a week. If you receive Housing Benefit, the increase will be reduced in line with the level of benefit you are entitled to.