News round-up: Housing growth fund, address data, housing stock numbers, refugee compensation
0HCA backs housing growth fund
Regeneration watchdog the Homes and Communities Agency is backing a new £1bn fund aimed at financing local authority housing schemes. The Housing Growth Partnership – a joint venture between the HCA and Lloyds Bank has linked up with fund manager Cheyne Capital to provide the new facility. Rental homes will be managed by a fund managed by Cheyne Capital and leased to the council for around 20 years, paying an index-linked rent
Address data ‘could save councils £86m’
Local government could benefit to the tune of £86m by making more of address data, according to a new report. The claim was unveiled at the annual conference of Geoplace, a partnership between the Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey. Benefits could come from reduced data duplication and integration, improved tax revenues, channel shift and route optimisation in waste management, the report said.
Drop in local authority housing numbers
The volume of housing owned by local authorities dropped by almost 8% between 2010 and 2015, according to figures released by the Department for Communties and Local Government. Homes owned by local authorities stood at 1.6 million last year, compared to 1.79 million when the coalition government came to power. The new administration increased discounts for homes bought under the Right to Buy programme.
LGA calls for refugee compensation
The government must make it clear how it will compensate councils after reversing its decision to refuse entry to 3,000 unaccompanied youths seeking asylum into the UK. David Simmons, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Group, said: “We are already working with government to ensure that unaccompanied children currently in the care of English councils are not disproportionately located in a small number of areas, and that councils taking responsibility for additional children have the necessary resources to properly meet their needs. It is therefore vital that the scheme announced today is fully aligned, and funded, alongside this and other existing programmes for resettling refugees, ensuring that councils are able to properly support these vulnerable children while continuing to provide vital services for their local community.”
Voters reject EU benefits claims
Around half of voters believe membership of the European Union makes no difference to the funding of public services, according to a new survey by polling organisation ComRes. The poll, commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Finance and Public Accountancy, found that 46% of voters think EU membership makes no difference to health and social care, with 40% saying it makes no difference to regional economic development.
