§ The Minister for Housing and Planning (Keith Hill)Following public consultation, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is about to write to Chief Finance Officers of local housing authorities in England to inform them about changes to the way in which Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy is delivered for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes.
The changes reform the HRA subsidy arrangements and will mean that local housing authorities receive a fixed level of annual subsidy, a "PFI allowance" for the duration of the scheme. There will be retrospective arrangements for authorities already receiving HRA PFI subsidy.
The letter, guidance on the new arrangements and the consultation paper may be found on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at http://www.odpm.gov.uk.
§ The Minister for Housing and Planning (Keith Hill)I am today issuing for consultation proposals that are designed to improve the distribution between authorities in England of housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy management and maintenance (M&M) allowances. Copies of the consultation paper and accompanying technical annex are available on the ODPM website and paper copies will be available in the Libraries of the House shortly.
HRA subsidy provides support to local authorities to manage and maintain their council stock. M&M allowances are a key component of subsidy, and currently total some £3 billion annually. This is shared between authorities on the basis of a formulaic approach that has changed little since it was introduced more than ten years ago. It no longer adequately reflects the circumstances and challenges facing housing authorities, including the drive for decent homes, and the problems of deprivation, anti-social behaviour, and low demand. As part of the move to a modern, fairer and more efficient housing finance system, with rent restructuring bringing coherence to local authority rents, we have made clear the need to look again at the way all resources are allocated. This consultation paper is part of that process.
Comments on the proposals in the consultation paper have been invited by 15 October.