Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for non attendance were received from Councillor Hutchison who was substituted by Councillor Maynard.

All members are required to disclose at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter, any disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest in any item(s) being considered at this meeting.

There were none

(NOTE: The Board is required to receive a deputation(s) on a matter which is before the meeting of the Board provided that notice of the intended deputation and its object shall have been received by the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on xxxxx. The total time for deputations in favour and against a proposal shall not exceed 10 minutes)

There were none

(NOTE: The Board is required to allow a total of 15 minutes for questions from Members of the public on matters within the terms of reference of the Board provided that notice of such Question(s) shall have been submitted to the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on xxxxx)

There were none

This report sets out the proposed Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget, the proposed rent levels and other charges and the proposed maintenance programme for 2023/24.

Consideration was given to a report by the Borough Treasurer and Housing Services Manager setting out the proposed Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget, the proposed rent levels and other charges and the proposed maintenance programme for 2023/24.

Members thanked Officers for their thorough and detailed briefings, at which their questions had been answered and clarification of the implications of the proposed increases had been given.

Officers explained that over 71% of Council tenants are in receipt of some form of benefit, so for them, the additional rent would be covered through the benefits process. Members were reassured that for those tenants who would be liable for the increase in rent but not in receipt of benefits, help would be available to help budget.

Members were advised that the proposed increase had been benchmarked with several neighbouring authorities who all appeared to be applying the same percentage increase.

RESOLVED: That the Board recommend to Council:

·         The revised HRA Business Plan Financial Model extract (Appendix A) and associated 2022/23 Revised Budget and 2023/24 Budget (Appendix B) is agreed

·         That Council Dwelling rents increase by 7% in line with the outcome of the government consultation results published in December

·         Service charges increase on average by 4%. Council provided heating services will increase in line with costs.

·         The rent for all garages is increased by 10.1% (CPI rate) in line with inflation, as agreed in the garage Renewal strategy.