Senior officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities &
Local Government (MHCLG) and Homes England attended a special
meeting of the ARCH New Build Network on 18 July, held in
conjunction with the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) and the
Councils with ALMOs Group (CWAG), to take delegates through the
detail of the recently announced HRA Borrowing Programme.
The event, organised by ARCH, was attended by some 70 delegates
from stock retained councils and ALMOs across the country.
Nick Atkinson, Head of Local Authority Housing at MHCLG took
delegates through the policy decisions and background to the
government's prospectus for the HRA Borrowing Programme launched on
26 June. Graeme Hough, Housing Programmes Manager at Homes England,
explained the detail processes for making an application for
additional borrowing, the information needed to support bids, the
bid assessment process and where and how to submit bids.
Steve Partridge, Director of Housing Consultancy at Savills,
outlined the findings of a recent research report into the sustainability
of Right to Buy conducted on behalf of the Local Government
Association, which examined the ability of councils across the
country to meet the government's promise of one for one replacement
of homes sold under the reinvigorated Right to Buy.
Copies of the presentations made at the meeting are available
for ARCH members in the ARCH New Build Network page of
the Members Area and MHCLG have set up a
dedicated email address for any specific questions from councils
considering submission of bids under the HRA Borrowing Programme:
HRABorrowing@communities.gsi.gov.uk