Councils have been given five new options for reorganising housing departments as part of a long game to convince the government that councils can be trusted with the freedom to borrow
A joint paper by the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Local Government Association out today urges the government to use a £200m fund it set aside for innovation in housing to pilot the five structures.

The paper says such a move would chime with the Local Government White Paper by encouraging "experimentation and creativity".

The CIH and LGA is hoping that the new models, set out in the paper, will show that councils can be run in a business-like and efficient manner and convince government in the long run to relax the borrowing rules. It says: "If local authorities can show new ways of delivering landlord services that demonstrate Best Value and accountability, opportunities for loosening of the detailed constraints on housing revenue and capital may be acceptable to the government."

The five models offer a range of options that get progressively more separate from the council itself.

The paper contains no mention of local housing "quasi corporations", a model previously favoured by the Local Government Association but unpopular with lenders and government. Arguments for the immediate relaxation of the borrowing rules have also been dropped.

Source

Housing Today