Sarah Newton MP Welcomes Changes to Council House Finances

Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth, Sarah Newton, has welcomed the Coalition Government’s announcement to overhaul the council house finance system.

The Housing Minister, Grant Shapps MP, unveiled a plan to return control over council house finance to local authorities.  Part of this change will be the replacing of the Housing Revenue Account system whereby rents that councils collect are paid to the Treasury in Whitehall.  The reform will mean that councils can keep the money that they collect which gives them a far greater incentive to reinvest in their housing stock through better maintenance, repair work and building more council houses.

In effect, tenants and taxpayers will be able to hold their landlords to account for both the cost and the quality of their housing as the councils collecting the rent will be directly responsible for how it is then spent.

This marks a radical shift in the financing of council housing but one which the Local Government Association (the body representing and campaigning in the interest of local councils) welcomed. They also described the financial settlement as “tough but reasonable”.

Sarah Newton said:  “Following my Bill in Parliament last week, I am pleased that Cornwall Council along with Wandsworth and the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport will be working closely with the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps MP and his officials next year.  They will have an important role to play in ensuring the transfer of responsibilities works well.  The current system is very complex and by working through the details with these councils we can get it right first time.”