Introduction
1. This report provides factual information on local authority housing income and expenditure. The source of the data is local authorities Housing Revenue Account ( HRA) returns submitted to the Scottish Executive in March 2005. Information on rent arrears ( table 10) is taken from a separate rent arrears return. Information on estimated capital expenditure 2005-06 ( table 15) is taken from the returns submitted for the monitoring of the Prudential Regime ( HRA- CPR Q1). Three councils, Dumfries & Galloway, Glasgow City and Scottish Borders, transferred their housing stock in early 2003. Data for these councils is not included for 2003-04 onwards.
2. A summary of HRA income and expenditure for 2004-05 and 2005-06 is shown in table 1. A detailed breakdown of this is provided in table 2.
Stock levels
3. The estimated number of council houses in each local authority is found in table 3. Between September 2004 and September 2005, the number fell by 16,170, mainly due to sales to sitting tenants.
Rents
4. The average rents charged by individual authorities are shown in table 4. The highest rent level in 2005-06 at £55.19 per week is recorded in Inverclyde. Moray's rents are the lowest in Scotland at £35.54 per week.
5. In 2005-06 local authorities estimate that the rent rebate subsidy will total around £538 million (almost 64% of total rental income). Table 5 illustrates the proportion of rental income raised through rent rebates in each authority.
Management and Maintenance ( MM) Expenditure
6. MM expenditure is made up of expenditure on supervision and management (mainly staffing costs) and the repair and maintenance of the housing stock. The average MM expenditure of Scottish local authorities in 2005-06 is estimated to be £1,479 per house. Falkirk has the highest estimated expenditure at £1,754 per house, with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar the lowest at £1,069 per house ( table 6). Differing accounting practices mean that the figures shown for individual authorities may not always be directly comparable.
7. Within overall MM expenditure:
7.1 average supervision and management ( SM) costs in 2005-06 are estimated to be £524 per house. SM costs range from £759 per house in Argyll & Bute to £208 in Shetland Islands ( table 7). As local authorities differ in the extent to which central administration costs are included in SM expenditure, individual figures may not always be directly comparable.
7.2 overall average expenditure on repairs and maintenance ( RM) is estimated to be £955 per house in 2005-06 ( table 8). Highest RM expenditure is in Falkirk at £1,179 per house, the lowest is recorded in Argyll & Bute at £660 per house.
Rents Lost Because of Un-let Houses
8. Total rents lost in 2005-06 are estimated to be around £25.4 million, 3.0% of total rental income ( table 9). The figures for some councils include rents lost on properties lying empty while awaiting demolition.
Rent Arrears
9. Total rent arrears are shown for 2004-05 at £33.8m, these represent 4.0% of standard rental income. Details on rent arrears and rent arrears written off are provided in tables 10 and 11. Direct comparisons between councils may not always be meaningful due to different policies on rent write off.
Housing Revenue Account Surpluses
10. Tables 12 and 13 provide details of housing revenue account surpluses. Councils continue to use revenue income to boost their capital expenditure. CFCR (capital funded from current revenue) is estimated to be £97.3 million in 2005-06. Revenue balances of over £82.6 million were carried forward from 2004-05 to 2005-06.
Capital Debt
11. The total HRA debt in 1 April 2004 was estimated to be £2,040 million. The average debt per council house is now £5,487 per house. There continues to be a wide disparity between councils. Average debt per house in Angus, East Lothian, Midlothian, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth & Kinross and West Lothian is less than £3,000, compared to Shetland's debt of £27,230 per house ( table 14).
Capital Expenditure
12. Table 15 illustrates the level of authorities' total housing capital expenditure financed from all sources ( i.e. new borrowing, usable receipts and capital funded from revenue income).
The Prudential Regime for local authority capital finance, including housing, was introduced in April 2004, allowing local authorities to decide for themselves what is an affordable and prudent level of borrowing in their circumstances. The Scottish Executive no longer issues section 94 consent to LAs to incur capital expenditure or borrowing allocations. The requirement for local authorities to use a proportion of housing capital receipts to repay existing debt ('set aside') was also abolished from April 2004.
Capital expenditure is forecast to increase in 2005-06. Edinburgh, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian show the largest increases in gross capital expenditure. Some authorities have increased their borrowing levels under the Prudential Regime, whilst others are using more capital receipts to fund investment in housing. The Scottish Executive regularly monitors actual expenditure by local authorities against their forecast figures.
Capital Receipts
13. Total HRA capital receipts, arising from the sale of council houses, are shown in table 16; these are estimated (at March 2005) to amount to £248.8m in 2005-06.