Council borrowing cap to be scrapped at end of the month
Councils’ Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing caps will be removed by the end of the month, a government letter has revealed.
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, has written to the chief executives of stock-owning local housing authorities outlining a draft plan for the scrapping of the debt cap.
It states that the “limits of indebtedness (revocation) determination 2018” will come into force on October 30 – the day after chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget.
Councils’ Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing caps will be removed by the end of the month, a government letter has revealed.
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, has written to the chief executives of stock-owning local housing authorities outlining a draft plan for the scrapping of the debt cap.
It states that the “limits of indebtedness (revocation) determination 2018” will come into force on October 30 – the day after chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget.
Brokenshire said: “We intend to remove the borrowing cap by issuing a determination revoking previous determinations that specified a local authority’s limits on indebtedness.”
He explained that the distribution of the draft plans to local authorities will be followed by the cap lifting, adding: “Our aim is to remove the borrowing cap as soon as possible, with further details confirmed in the Budget.”
Prime minister Theresa May announced plans to scrap council borrowing caps at the Conservative Party conference earlier this month.
The pledge was celebrated by local authorities, the British Property Federation and the Local Government Association. However, critics have pointed towards the potential political motivations, with Conservative-led councils now in a better position to oppose mayoral leadership and policies.
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