London councils to get HCA funding
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London councils would be given a share of the Homes and Communities Agency’s budget in plans being drawn up by Boris Johnson and the Government.
In the week running up to the election the Tories announced the HCA’s London operation - due to invest £1.25bn a year until 2011 - would come under control of the Greater London Authority.
Plans being discussed by the Mayor of London and Communities and Local Government department would see the capital’s local authorities receive a share of the budget in exchange for a promise to provide an agreed number of homes.
Richard Blakeway, housing advisor to Mr Johnson, said: ‘The share is only indicative because if councils are not able to invest the money it can be re-allocated to other areas. Underspends are very frequent and it is important to make sure we are not returning money to the Treasury.’
In some cases, councils would be able to borrow against their budget share to increase their sources of finance. Strategic decisions about the capital’s housing needs would be made by the HCA under control of the Greater London Authority.
Mr Blakeway said the HCA’s current powers would then be ‘doubly devolved’ to the councils and the Greater London Authority.
He said: ‘It would mean bringing together housing powers with the economic powers we have through the London Development Agency, the planning powers the Mayor already has and infrastructure and transport funding through Transport for London, to bring all this together with housing investment is important.
‘We will have full access to the books and see how we can deliver more units for slightly less money.
‘There is an issue at the moment with housing associations contributing a lot less to development in London and relying a lot more on grant than the rest of the country.’
A decision on the future of the HCA is likely to be announced in the next six or seven weeks.
Dino Patel, London policy officer at the London Housing Federation, has said the federation is not concerned about the HCA being moved under control of the mayor as long as output of affordable housing is not affected.
Mr Patel said it was vital that housing associations play a key role in the development the plans.
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Readers' comments (1)
Dave Hollins | 02/06/2010 12:13 pm
It's hard to oppose devolution in principle but we also have to look at the potential impact that this decision will have. Most London boroughs now have non-Tory councils so there will be an interest in keeping up the level of social rent. But in some, and Hammersmith is uppermost in my mind, the council will do everything to divert money away from social housing provision into various private housing options. This will not benefit the people of the borough on the lowest incomes who need social rented housing most. There is little doubt that the Tories policy generally is to out more power in the hands of nimbys who do not want social housing near them - that's why a regional approach with targets is so important.
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