Housing Revenue Account (HRA) statistics: local authority housing income and expenditure 1997-1998 to 2019-2020 (near actuals) and 2020-2021 (budgeted estimates)
This annual publication provides information on trends in the balance of HRA housing income and expenditure; the amount Scottish councils earned from housing and other council stock, how they spent this income and whether there was a surplus or deficit at year end.
Rent arrears and the rents written-off (charts 10 & 11) (tables 16a, 16c, 17a, 17c, 19a, 19b and 20)
31. Total rent arrears on all properties on HRAs at 31 March 2020 was £79m, a rise of £5.6m (7.6%) since 31 March 2019. Nationally, rent arrears at 31 March 2020 represent 6.5% of Standard Rental Income on all properties on the HRA compared with 6.2% as at 31 March 2019 and is the highest value recorded over the past decade.
32. From 2008-09 the statistics collected from Local Authorities have separately identified rent arrears on dwellings from rent arrears in other properties held on councils’ HRAs.
33. As at March 2020, rent arrears on council dwellings were £77m, up £5.7m (7.9%) on last year, representing 6.4% of Standard Rental Income from these dwellings. Rent arrears on dwellings varied from 11.9% of Standard Rental Income from dwellings in Midlothian to 1.4% in East Renfrewshire.
34. As at 31 March 2020 there were 102,912 council tenants in arrears, an increase of 210 tenants (a 0.2% increase) compared to 31 March 2019. The number of former tenants in arrears decreased by 3,876 (a 5.6% decrease) from 30,397 at March 2019 to 28,700 as at 31 March 2020.
35. In 2019-20 budgets, councils wrote-off £11.7m of outstanding rent as unrecoverable (this represents 1.0% of Standard Rental Income) compared to £10.8m in the previous year. Write-offs for 2019-20 varied from £0.01m in Dundee City and the Orkney Islands to £1.5m in North Lanarkshire. Amounts of arrears written-off by councils can be influenced by councils’ accounting policies and judgements on whether arrears are recoverable.
Source:
Current prices: Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Division - based on Housing Revenue Account return provided by Scottish Local Authorities. Constant prices: ONS Consumer Price All Items Index on which 2015 = 100.
Notes:
1. Six councils transferred their housing stock to the housing association sector, therefore HRA information is not available for them.
2. Vertical lines indicate breaks in comparability following transfer of housing stock as follows:
- From 2003-04 transfer of housing stock from Glasgow City, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders,
- From 2006-07 transfer of housing stock from Argyll and Bute and Na h-Eileanan Siar,
- From 2007-08 transfer of housing stock from Inverclyde.
3. Figures for 2019-20 may have been impacted on by the COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions. Consideration should be given to the impact of these restrictions when making any comparisons with other years.
Source:
Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Services Division - based on Housing Revenue Account return provided by Local Authorities.
Notes:
1. Six councils transferred their housing stock to the housing association sector, therefore HRA information is not available for them.
2. Figures for March 2020 may have been impacted on by the COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions. Consideration should be given to the impact of these restrictions when making any comparisons with other years or between local authorities.
Contact
Email: chma@gov.scot
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