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HRA cap to be scrapped for Welsh councils
The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing cap will be removed in Wales as well as England, Budget documents have confirmed.
Autumn Budget documents published yesterday confirmed that the HRA cap would be abolished for councils in England with immediate effect.
And they added: “The Welsh Government is taking immediate steps to lift the cap in Wales.”
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Rebecca Evans, housing and regeneration minister for the Welsh Government, said via Twitter yesterday: “Pleased the UK government have finally confirmed they will lift the cap on local authority Housing Revenue Account borrowing in Wales.
“We have long called for this to help Welsh councils build more homes.”
A spokesperson for the UK Treasury told Inside Housing that the cap would be fully lifted in Wales as well as England, with no new limit.
However, they added that the process for removing the HRA cap will be different than for England – where housing secretary James Brokenshire issued a determination revoking the cap across the whole country.
Instead, the Welsh Government will need to repeal individual HRA borrowing limit agreements with all 11 councils in Wales which still have housing stock.
Inside Housing has asked the Welsh Government when it expects the HRA cap to be removed in Wales.
Additional HRA borrowing by Welsh councils will appear on the UK Government’s balance sheet.
Ms Evans revealed late last year that the Labour-run Welsh Government was in talks with councils about transferring unused HRA borrowing capacity between town halls in a bid to boost housebuilding.
National Labour party policy has been to lift the HRA borrowing cap since the 2017 general election.
Councils in Wales have recently made a return to building housing for the first time in decades, delivering 266 social homes in 2017/18.
Autumn Budget 2018 - full coverage
All our Autumn Budget 2018 coverage in one place:
The Autumn Budget lacked the ambition we need Philip Hammond’s Budget fell short for housing, writes Melanie Rees
There were no big fireworks but the Budget offers an opportunity to deliver The Budget leaves associations facing a choice and we must now deliver, argues David Montague
Names of new housing association strategic partnerships revealed Homes England has released the names of the eight housing associations that have just signed strategic partnerships with the government.
Budget a missed opportunity on housing, says NHF Reaction to the Autumn Budget from several organisations, including the National Housing Federation
Budget small print reveals significant announcements for housing Housing policies contained in the Autumn Budget and background documents published yesterday will have a large impact, if they actually go ahead, writes Jules Birch
Hammond’s extra Universal Credit cash is welcome – but we need homelessness specialists in Job Centres too The Autumn Budget must not become a missed opportunity to put in place measures to prevent homelessness, argues Ruth Jacob of Crisis
Hammond announces extra funding for Universal Credit: Philip Hammond has announced plans to pump more money into Universal Credit in the Autumn Budget today.
Help to Buy equity loan scheme extended to 2023 for first time buyers:The Help to Buy equity loan scheme will be extended two years to 2023 for first time buyers only, with new price caps set for each English region.
Housing Live - the Autumn Budget 2018 as it happened: Live-blogging from Jules Birch reveals how the Autumn Budget unfolded and what it means for housing
OBR: scrapping council borrowing cap will deliver only 9,000 new homes: Scrapping the borrowing cap will deliver only 9,000 new homes over the next five years, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said.
Letwin: builders of large sites must accept more ’diversity’ of tenure: Builders should be required to accept suggested levels of affordable housing for large sites in order to receive government support, including Help to Buy, a major review of housebuilding has concluded.
Chancellor announces strategic partnerships with nine housing associations: Nine housing associations have signed new strategic partnerships with the government to deliver over 13,000 homes, Philip Hammond has announced.
Stamp duty scrapped for buyers of shared ownership homes worth up to £500,000: Stamp duty will be scrapped for first-time buyers of homes for shared ownership, the chancellor has announced.
Autumn Budget 2018 - the key housing policies at-a-glance
- £1bn to help fund the implementation of Universal Credit over the next five years
- £500m in Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock a further 650,000 homes
- The next wave of strategic partnerships with nine housing associations, which will deliver 13,000 homes
- British business bank guarantees for SME house builders
- ‘Simplification’ of process to convert commercial properties to new homes
- Providing funding to empower 500 neighbourhoods to allocate homes to local people in perpetuity
- Help to Buy equity loan scheme extended by two years to 2023 and limited to first-time buyers
- Retrospective inclusion of first-time buyers of shared ownership in stamp duty relief
