Issue - meetings

Purpose of report

1.1         The law requires that all income and expenditure relating to Council Housing is accounted for separately in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).  All other Council income and expenditure is accounted for together in a separate account called the General Fund.  This report deals solely with the HRA.

1.2         The City Council has delegated the function of setting rents, charges and revenue budgets for Council Housing to the Cabinet Member for Housing and Preventing Homelessness.  Following consultation with residents and leaseholders, this report seeks to address all HRA budget issues. 

1.3         The purpose of this report is to seek the Cabinet Member’s decisions on the City Council Housing budgets, rents and other charges and to give authority for managers to incur expenditure in 2023/24.

1.4         The report also seeks to:

o   Note the Forecast Revenue Outturn for 2022/23 and give authority to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services & the Director of Finance and Resources to amend the budgets to reflect the latest available information prior to finalising budgets for 2023/24.

o   Note the Forecast Revenue Budgets for 2024/25 to 2026/27 arising from the proposals set out in this report.

o   Set rents with an average increase of 7%, which is in line with the maximum increase allowed by Central Government's Social Rent Setting Policy.

Recommendations

It is recommended that the Cabinet Member for Housing and Preventing Homelessness approves the following:

(i)           The Forecast Revenue Outturn for 2022/23 arising from monitoring discussions with Managers, as set out at Appendix 3, be noted.        

(ii)          All rents and charges to be effective from Monday 03 April 2023 or such other date as determined by the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources.

(iii)       Dwelling Rents for 2023/24 to be set with an average increase of 7%, which is in line with the maximum allowable under Central Government's Social Rent Setting Policy.

(iv)      General Service Charges for 2023/24 to be set at this meeting, as set out in this report, and in accordance with Appendix 5.

(v)       Sheltered Housing Service Charges for 2023/24 to be set at this meeting, as set out in this report, and in accordance with Appendix 6.

(vi)      Laundry Charges for 2023/24 to be set at this meeting, as set out in this report, and in accordance with Appendix 7.

(vii)     Heating Charges for 2023/24 to be set in accordance with Appendix 8.

(viii)    Garages and Parking Site Rents for 2023/24, as shown in Appendix 9, be approved and authority to let garages at reduced rents where demand is low be delegated to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources.

(ix)      The Revenue Budget for 2023/24, as set out in Appendix 3, be approved and authority given to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources, to amend the budgets to reflect the latest available information prior  ...  view the full agenda text for item 6

The Cabinet Member:

1. Noted the Forecast Revenue Outturn for 2022/23 arising from monitoring discussions with Managers, as set out at Appendix 3.
2. Agreed all rents and charges to be effective from Monday 3 April 2023 or such other date as determined by the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources.
3. Approved dwelling rents for 2023/24 to be set with an average increase of 7%, which is in line with the maximum allowable under Central Government's Social Rent Setting policy.
4. Approved General Service Charges for 2023/24 to be set as set out in the report and in accordance with Appendix 5.
5. Approved Sheltered Housing Service Charges for 2023/24 to be set as set out in the report, and in accordance with Appendix 6.
6. Approved laundry charges for 2023/24 to be set, as set out in the report, and in accordance with Appendix 7.
7. Approved heating charges for 2023/24 to be capped at a 50% rise in 2023/2024 with any remaining heating charges to be recouped in subsequent years.
8. Approved Garages and Parking Site rents for 2023/24, as shown in Appendix 9 and approved authority to let garages at reduced rents where demand is low to be delegated to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources.
9. Approved the Revenue Budget for 2023/24, as set out in Appendix 3 and approved authority to be given to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources, to amend the budgets to reflect the latest available information prior to finalising budgets for 2023/24.
10. Authorised the relevant managers to incur expenditure in 2023/24
11. Noted the Forecast Revenue Budgets for 2024/25 to 2026/27 arising from proposals contained in the report as set out in Appendix 3.

Paul Godier, Jason Halfpenny, Jamie Foy and Councillor Cal Corkery gave deputations opposing this agenda item.

Deputations are not minuted but can be viewed here:

Cabinet Member for Housing and Preventing Homelessness, 2 February 2023 on Livestream

Alan Denford, Group Accountant, introduced the report and each recommendation in turn.

The purpose of the report was to seek the Cabinet Member's decision on the City Council Housing budgets, rents and other charges and to give authority for managers to incur expenditure in 2023/2024.

Members' Questions

In response to members' questions, officers clarified:

·         In relation to any support available, the following were noted:

-       The energy price cap guarantee will be increasing from £2,500 per year to £3,000 per year from 1^st April 2023.

-       The energy rebate is coming to an end at the end of March.

-       From 1^st April the Government will be introducing a number of initiatives for residents eligible for various benefits including;

1.    £900 cost of living payment based on means tested benefits to be paid in 3 equal instalments in Spring 2023, Autumn 2023 and Spring 2024.

2.    A £300 one off pension payment for those claiming pension credit.

3.    An automatic one-off payment of £150 for households in the UK claiming disability benefits.

4.    A Warm Homes scheme giving a one-off discount on electricity bills over the winter which is directly applied to bills.

5.    Cold weather payments and winter fuel payments.

6.    Fuel pre-payment vouchers are issued automatically but need to be manually redeemed before they expire.  The service was heavily promoting all these through their housing officers but also through the Switched-on Portsmouth website to ensure residents were aware of what they can claim for in terms of the vouchers but also to make sure they redeem them for credit on their bills.

·         In certain housing blocks, electricity is generated by Solar PV cells on the roofs and in calculating the energy price increases officers worked out the amount of energy that the energy centre consumed and then deducted from that any income generated through the surplus electricity sales and then a net figure was produced. For the Charles Dickens district heating network the net figure is then divided by the residents on the estate receiving communal heating and everybody  pays a proportionate share.

·         The Charles Dickens heating system is an on-demand heating and hot water system and runs 24/7 and 365 days a year so that residents always have access to heating and hot water.  There are controls within each property to turn down radiators.

·         The building services team are investigating how best to upgrade and modernise the district heating system to allow more flexibility and more control for residents, and to allow residents to only pay for the energy and hot water that they use.  A similar feasibility will be undertaken on the communal heating system at Tipton & Edgbaston Houses.  Residents will be consulted over the summer on the pros and cons.

·         Heating charges are purely for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6