Councils plan to form a consortium to negotiate preferential loans from banks to fund their exit from the current housing subsidy system. Executive members of the Association of Retained Council Housing, which represents 56 English councils, are due to hold talks with one the UK’s largest banks next week to discover the terms under which it might offer a 30-year loan to a group of authorities. Councils needing to borrow millions prior to the dismantling of the housing revenue account subsidy system believe they can agree a better deal with private lenders than with the government-backed Public Works Loan Board. Before the HRA system is wound up in April 2012, 136 of the 171 stock-retaining English councils must make one-off payments to the Treasury. This will involve extra borrowing totalling £13 billion on top of their existing debt in the system. Read more on Inside Housing.
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