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Council bids to relaunch HRA to tackle homelessness
An East of England council is set to become the latest to reopen its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) as part of its plans to build hundreds of new homes and tackle its homelessness problem.
Peterborough City Council is asking its cabinet members to approve the proposal after a 56% jump in people declaring themselves homeless in the past year.
It comes after the government last year announced a move to lift the HRA cap that was introduced in 2012.
If approved, the council will follow Liverpool in building council housing for the first time in 15 years.
Peterborough Council handed over its housing stock to registered provider Cross Keys Homes in 2004.
Steve Allen, its cabinet member for housing, culture and recreation, said: “By launching an HRA we would be able to meet the demands of our growing population and would ensure everyone in this city has a front door they can call their own.”
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In Peterborough, the number of families living in temporary accommodation is around 385, the council said. However, the number of families in B&B accommodation has fallen from 146 last September to 73 this month.
Mr Allen added: “These homes would be used for temporary and long-term accommodation. They would be managed and operated by the city council, in a similar way in which council homes used to be operated in the 1960s and 1970s.”
The council said that by launching its HRA it would be able to speed up the development of affordable homes, with a view to “providing hundreds of new affordable homes over the coming decades”.
Savills has said that the lifting of the HRA cap could lead to councils building 100,000 more homes.
Earlier this year it emerged that Peterborough was one of several councils promised tens of millions of pounds by the government through its Housing Infrastructure Fund but had missed out on the money.
