Borough Council was held this week. The Housing Revenue Account Budget was agreed. I know that Councillor Andrews has worked very hard on this and there are some proposals that he himself found very hard but, with the budget been under such pressure, he had no choice. Things will get tougher as things stand as with the Housing Subsidy system as it is, in a few years time, Hounslow will be paying in!!!!!
Notwithstanding the above, I was especially pleased with recommendation 1.10 that says:
“To freeze the estimated management charge for leaseholders at £230 per annum for 2008/09.”
This second successive freeze does redress the balance as I recall some very large percentage increases between 2002 & 2006. In the final year of the Labour administration, the charge was increased by 28%.
For those who are interested in the General Fund (ie what your Council Tax goes towards), we also approved a second tranche of efficiency savings. We withdrew CSLL4 & CSLL7. We continue our quest for a second successive freeze in the level of Council Tax, which would be a huge achievement.
Bowen's blog 