Councils Cut £400m on Housing Spend

Councils spent £400 million less on improving existing or building new housing last year, despite an overall increase in their capital spending. Authorities’ housing capital spend in 2009/10 was £4.5 billion, according to figures released by the CLG, compared to £4.9 billion the previous year. This is despite capital spending on education increasing by £849 million, while an extra £1.1 billion was spent on highways and transport. The CLG would not provide a more detailed breakdown of the spending or explain why it had decreased. A spokesperson said: ‘It is not something we are worried about, these things fluctuate and the drop is less than 10 per cent.’ For possible reasons why expenditure may have been cut, read more on the Inside Housing website.