London boroughs stand to lose £150m in the next two years if government proposals to change the allocation of the management and maintenance allowance are implemented.
According to figures seen by Housing Today, the loss to the authority’s housing revenue accounts, relative to what they would have received under the present system, will total £54m in 2004/05 and £95m in 2005/06.

Management and maintenance allowances for London councils currently total £770m.

Brian Dillon, a financial strategy consultant at CityWest Homes, Westminster’s arm’s-length management organisation, said: “Once the safety net is taken away in two year time, the changes would cost us about £6m each year.”

The news came as London boroughs prepared to mount a challenge to the proposed changes to the formula for calculating councils’ management and maintenance allowances outlined in a government consultation paper released last July.

The proposals would reduce the weighting given to councils with large numbers of high-rise properties, which are generally more expensive to maintain than low-rise housing.

Source

Housing Today