Agenda item

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Medium Term Financial Strategies

Minutes:

The Lead Cabinet Member for Housing presented the Housing Revenue Account (HRA)Medium Term Financial Strategies (MTFS). This provided an update in respect of the financial position and forecasts for the Housing Revenue Account, allowing review of financial assumptions, approval of any mid-year budgetary changes, approval of any future business plan changes and agreement of the budget strategies for 2019/20 and beyond.

 

The committee was informed that:

·         The threat to the Council of having to sell empty high value homes had been factored into longer term strategies. The threat of this had diminished as the government had said that this would not happen before at least April 2019 and was thought to be unlikely thereafter.

·         It was reported that the Government would be withdrawing the HRA borrowing cap imminently and more would be known after the Government’s Autumn Budget Statement. The Council needed to establish what the impact would be if the borrowing cap was removed. Depending on the outcome of this, the HRA MTFS report would be amended before it was presented to Council in February 2019. If the cap was removed the Council would think more widely and ambitiously as time restraints associated with the cap would not be a factor.

 

In discussing the report, the committee raised the following points:

·         A glossary of terms was requested to accompany the report as well as an explanation of the brackets in the financial information.

·         Fire safety of Council owned properties was raised. It was suggested that sprinklers in the corridors of these could improve safety. The committee was informed that any cladding on Council owned properties was compliant with fire safety regulations. The Council had made provision for investment in fire safety doors.

·         The review of communal rooms was discussed. It was highlighted that some communal rooms were in a poor state. The committee was informed that funding had been identified for architect fees as part of a project reviewing the communal rooms. The potential for communal rooms being used by external bodies, such as community groups, was suggested however many of the rooms needed to be improved before this could be considered. The Leader of the Council suggested that the communal rooms review being undertaken by the Council needed to be accelerated.

·         The committee was informed that the Housing service had gone back to a patch based system of working so that staff got to know the residents in the areas they covered, to ensure early intervention. Voids had been a priority and pressure had been put on Mears to turn void properties around quickly. The low level of voids was noted.

·         Regarding Universal Credit, the committee was informed that resources had been put in place to help tenants in bad debt and resources had been put into general housing management to help tenants. New working age claimants in South Cambridgeshire would now be on Universal Credit.

·         The committee was informed that the Council had seen an increase in the level of tenant arrears due to the introduction of welfare reforms impacting some tenants’ ability to pay their rent on time. The impact had been seen on working age people and those with larger numbers of children. The Council was working to reduce the level of arrears.

·         The Council took a firm initial stance on rent arrears however was compassionate in cases where tenants were in real financial difficulty. In such cases the Council worked to support the tenant to keep them in their home.

·         The committee was informed that a significant number of additional posts were planned to be recruited to in order to support tenants with the impact of Universal Credit, to facilitate early intervention and support tenants to prevent a build up of rent arrears. Council officers referred tenants to other services, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), as appropriate. The Council was providing funding to the CAB to ensure tenants in need had access to their services. 

·         While the Council was compassionate and worked to support those in real financial difficulty, it was important that tenants understood their obligation to pay their rent. The Council did not charge interest on rent arrears and the committee was assured that it would never consciously add to a tenant’s debt. Bailiffs were not used to recover housing rent arrears.

·         The Council sought to recover former tenant rent arrears however, this was hard to do, particularly in the case of absconders.

·         The committee was informed that the Council was ahead of its savings target and savings would be invested in housing stock.

·         The committee was informed that it was not realistic for the Council to employ a dedicated planning officer to deal with its own planning applications. The service was working to ensure consistency and continuity of planning advice.

·         The committee was informed that a member workshop on the budget would be taking place on 6 November 2018.

 

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee noted the report.

 

 

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