Ruling Hands ALMO £10m

A landmark legal ruling on solar subsidies will result in a £10 million profit for an ALMO.  Ascham Homes had expected to make a £1.5 million loss on photovoltaic solar panels it installed this January after the government decided to cut the feed-in tariff it pays to renewable electricity producers from 43.3p/kWh to 21p/kWh in October last year.  However the Supreme Court has upheld previous rulings from the High Court and Court of Appeal that said the government had acted unlawfully in applying the FIT cut retrospectively on 12 December 2011 with just six weeks’ notice.  The ALMO used Waltham Forest Council’s low prudential borrowing rates - up to 2 per cent lower than the cost of private bank finance - to fund the £7 million scheme over the 25-year life of the FIT.  Read more on Inside Housing.