Red Brick confirms that there is no central government funding being made available for Council housing. This shows several things, most notably another example of the central government using local authorities as a dumping ground and shield for the failed outcomes of government policies. It also demonstrates the sheer folly of Brent Council stampeding into an unconsidered commitment to spend £10 million without securing any guarantees from the government or having any real idea what it is spending the money on.
As Red Brick says this might come from reserves or the housing revenue account (HRA). Brent effectively has no reserves of that size so any spend will come from the HRA. Rents are kept by central government fiat at their current rate, so I guess that means cutting back on repairs and maintenance, or cutting any planned building of new housing stock.
It all illustrates how rushed decisions in one area cascade into poor outcomes in other unrelated areas of policy.
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