Ten of the most innovative council-run housing projects
Reports of the death of local authority house building have been greatly exaggerated. Mark Smulian looks at the resurgence of council activity in constructing new homes – for both social[…]
Author: Mark Smulian
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Warwick votes for referendum on 34.2% council tax increase
Warwick District Council has become the first authority to back a referendum on increasing its council tax share above the 2% limit. Residents will be asked on 7th May to[…]
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Council bills for homelessness spiral over budget
Nearly 70% of councils with housing responsibilities overspent their budget for homelessness services last year, pushing them towards breaking point, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said. It blamed rising[…]
Call for action on £250m annual cost of business rates avoidance
Councils are losing some £250m a year through business rates avoidance, equivalent to 1.0% of the total of this income source. That claim has come from the Local Government Association[…]
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Council report casts doubt on emergence of competitive PWLB alternatives
A report by London Borough of Haringey finance officers has sounded the alarm over the options for councils to find cheaper lenders than the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB) following[…]
Council service spending grows by 1.9%
English local authorities’ total service expenditure reached £91.4bn in 2018-19, a 1.9% increase on the previous year and its highest level since 2014-15. The figures were included in the Local[…]
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IFS: Some councils set to lose cash despite overall funding boost
Some councils may see a fall in funding next year, despite a government forecast that councils’ core spending power could increase by 4.3% in real terms in 2020-21 compared with[…]
LGA writes to ministers over audit delays
The Local Government Association has protested to two Whitehall departments about the impact on councils of delays by auditors in preparing their accounts. LGA resources board chair Richard Watts told[…]
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ALMO funding issues prompt move to insource housing services
The only arm’s-length management organisation to oversee homes in multiple councils faces closure with all the councils involved intending to take the service directly in-house. East Kent Housing (EKH) serves[…]
