Thousands of council house tenants are facing a rent hike, and for most of them it will be about £300 a year.
Gravesham council wants to raise rents for tenants from April 1 this year by 8.05% - an average of £5.90 more a week or £306.80 a year.
It comes as the government tries to enforce a universal level of council rents that are 80% of the commercial market rent value of the property, bringing it in line with housing associations in the area.
The government has said this must happen by 2015-16 but Gravesham council will not meet that until 2024-25, even with the planned hikes, because rents would have to jump much higher than the government will allow.
Those most affected are those who do not claim housing benefit.
Of the council's 5,808 properties 40% do not claim, while 20% receive some housing benefit. The other 40% will be unaffected by the hikes.
John Burden, (Lab) Gravesham council's leader, said the proposed sharp rise this year was because the previous Tory administration had not put up rents enough last year.
He said: "They [the previous administration] just put off the increase and made it worse this year.
"If we don't do the increase then we will have to spend a lot less on maintenance."
He added: "We will already have to avoid spending on capital projects, like updating roofs and windows, because we won't make the government deadline for the rent increases."
But former council leader Mike Snelling (Con) denied they had deliberately kept rents low in an election year.
He said: "It is a bit disturbing and eight per cent on council rent is just too much.
"When we were running the council we put it up by 4.9%.
"To say we kept it low - it depends if you think 4.9% is low. Many of those in our council properties get housing benefit anyway so it wasn't for votes."
The news comes after Gravesham council announced it is also going to raise council tax by 3.48%, rejecting the offer of a government grant which would have enabled it to freeze the charge.
Kay Boycott , director of campaigns, policy and communications at housing charity Shelter, said: "With rising living costs and changes to housing benefit, any rent increase is a cause for some concern and could have a serious impact on families in Gravesend who may already be finding it difficult to keep a roof over their head."