Issue - meetings

Housing Revenue Account Budget 2021/2022 (Cabinet - 3 February 2021)

Meeting: 23/02/2021 - Council (Item 7)

7 Housing Revenue Account Budget 2021/2022 (Cabinet - 3 February 2021) pdf icon PDF 509 KB

Cabinet

 

RECOMMENDED THAT COUNCIL

 

Housing Revenue Account (HRA): Revenue

 

(a)   approve the HRA revenue budget for 2021/2022 as shown in the HRA Budget Summary as presented at Appendix A to the report;

 

HRA: Review of Rents and Charges

 

(b)   Approve that council dwelling rents for all social rented properties be increased by the Consumer Prices Index plus 1% (1.5%), in line with legislative requirements introduced as part of the Welfare Reform and Work Act, with effect from 1st April 2021;

 

(c)   Approve that affordable rents are reviewed in line with rent legislation, to ensure that rents charged are no more than 80% of market rent for 2021/2022. Local policy is to cap affordable rents at the lower level of Local Housing Allowance, which will result in rent variations in line with any changes notified to the authority in this level, effective from 1st April 2021;

 

(d)   Approve inflationary increases of 0.6% in garage rents for 2021/2022.

 

(e)   Approve the proposed service charges for HRA services and facilities provided to both tenants and leaseholders, as shown in Appendix D.

 

 

HRA: Capital

 

(f)    Approve the required level of funding for new build investment between 2021/2022 and 2025/2026 to ensure that commitments can be met in respect of the investment of all right to buy receipts currently retained or anticipated to be received by the authority for this period. This expenditure will take the form of HRA new build, with the 70% top up met by other HRA resources;

 

(g)   Approve the HRA Medium Term Financial Strategy forecasts as shown in Appendix B;

 

(h)   Approve the Housing Capital Programme as shown in Appendix C.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Council AGREED

 

 

Housing Revenue Account (HRA): Revenue

 

(a)   approve the HRA revenue budget for 2021/2022 as shown in the HRA Budget Summary as presented at Appendix A;

 

HRA: Review of Rents and Charges

 

(b)  Approve that council dwelling rents for all social rented properties be increased by the Consumer Prices Index plus 1% (1.5%), in line with legislative requirements introduced as part of the Welfare Reform and Work Act, with effect from 1st April 2021;

 

(c)   Approve that affordable rents are reviewed in line with rent legislation, to ensure that rents charged are no more than 80% of market rent for 2021/2022. Local policy is to cap affordable rents at the lower level of Local Housing Allowance, which will result in rent variations in line with any changes notified to the authority in this level, effective from 1st April 2021;

 

(d)  Approve inflationary increases of 0.6% in garage rents for 2021/2022.

 

(e)   Approve the proposed service charges for HRA services and facilities provided to both tenants and leaseholders, as shown in Appendix D.

 

 

HRA: Capital

 

(f)    Approve the required level of funding for new build investment between 2021/2022 and 2025/2026 to ensure that commitments can be met in respect of the investment of all right to buy receipts currently retained or anticipated to be received by the authority for this period. This expenditure will take the form of HRA new build, with the 70% top up met by other HRA resources;

 

(g)  Approve the HRA Medium Term Financial Strategy forecasts as shown in Appendix B;

 

(h)  Approve the Housing Capital Programme as shown in Appendix C.

 

 

Minutes:

Members considered the recommendation of Cabinet and report on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Capital Budget 2021/2022.

 

Councillor John Williams introduced the report. He said the HRA budget continued to be set in the context of a 30-year business plan. The estimated HRA balance at the end of this financial year would be just over £2.5 million and while this was adequate for HRA purposes it would not be prudent to let it fall much below that figure. Appendix B of the report set out how this level would be addressed. There was no alternative to increasing council rent levels if the Council was to maintain its drive to improve customer service to its tenants and grow its social housing stock. Rents would increase by 1.5 per cent in line with Government policy and this meant that the average social rent would increase to £106.02 per week. In line with rent legislation affordable rents would continue to be no more than 80% of the market rent. He was acutely aware that some of the Council’s tenants were having financial problems. and current council rent arrears had increased significantly. However, the introduction of the new Orchard housing management system should allow for targeted review of tenants’ arrears and collections. He anticipated this position would improve as the nation emerged from the pandemic and the HRA budget also included support for tenants receiving Universal Credit. As to the council house building programme, external funding from section 106 commuted sums and retained right to buy receipts would be utilised as identified in the Housing Capital Investment Plan. He moved the recommendations.

 

The Lead Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Hazel Smith, seconded the motion. She said the HRA revenue budget and capital programme has been scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, other than where changes which were not available at that time had been incorporated. The housing stock was in good shape and the aim was to achieve zero carbon by 2050. Regarding capital spending, some areas which had been budgeted for had required less, so there had been no need to borrow to fund home building. The document set out the numbers of new council homes which had been built. An area to monitor was the amount of council tax owed, as this had gone up since last year. Councillor Hazel Smith thanked officers for their hard work and commended the report to Members.

 

Councillor Mark Howell said this was a good report but questioned the lower figure for the percentage of the housing stock reported as decent, compared to the previous year. He asked how many such properties there were and whether they had fallen below the standard on gas checks.

 

Councillor Hazel Smith confirmed the gas checks compliance was 100%.

 

Councillor Nigel Cathcart said he supported the strategy. Council rents had increased significantly but below housing association and market level rents, so he was happy to support the recommendations. Arrears should be treated with a sense of humanity and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7