BOROUGH council tenants will have to pay an extra £208 a year in rent - but the news could have been worse. On Monday, members of Waverley Borough Council's executive voted through rent increases of 5.5 per cent, taking the average weekly rent from £72.92 a week to £76.93 a week. The increases will take effect from April 4 and help the council to raise extra cash to pay for improvements and essential repairs. The council is also raising the rents on garages. However, the news could have been worse. Councillors were considering a recommendation that rents should be increased by 6.3 per cent to £77.51 - a rise of £238 a year - to maintain a healthy budget. Despite this, councillors chose to keep the rise as low as possible but are still raising enough cash to carry out essential works. The council's head of housing, David January, told councillors that a low rise would be helpful to those in on low incomes. "Approximately 60 of cent of our tenants receive full or partial benefits to help them with their costs," he said.