Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Statistics: Scottish Local Authority Housing Income and Expenditure 1997-98 to 2020-21 (actuals) 2021-22 (estimates)

Housing revenue income and expenditure (charts 2a & 2b) (table 1a)

15. In 2020-21, rents from council houses account for 95% of revenue income to the HRAs. Supervision, management and repairs and maintenance of the houses accounts for 66% of the expenditure, while loan charges (i.e. the cost of servicing housing debt) account for 29%.

16. Other sources of income for Local Authorities include rents on hostels and other properties such as garages or lock-ups and also interest and other charges to tenants for special services. Money is also spent on things such as, upkeep of hostels (in some council areas) and other properties, writing-off rent arrears and paying council tax on void properties.

17. The cost of maintaining and managing housing stock is usually less than the income received i.e. council housing makes a revenue surplus at the Scottish level. This remaining income (the surplus) is used to fund capital investment in the council housing stock as part of the Capital Programme. The use of income in this way is known as Capital Funded from Current Revenue (CFCR).

18. In 2020-21 total HRA income (net) totalled just over £1.28bn across Scotland and total expenditure was just over £1bn. Further details of expenditure and income are set out in Chart 2(a) and 2(b) below. At year end, when income is compared to expenditure there was a surplus of £273m and £237m was transferred to councils' housing capital expenditure accounts and then invested on housing capital projects including new build council houses and enhancements to existing council stock (in addition to any day-to-day maintenance).

Source:

Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Division - based on Housing Revenue Account return provided by Scottish Local Authorities.

Notes:

1. Figures may have been impacted on by the COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions.

Source:

Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Division - based on Housing Revenue Account return provided by Scottish Local Authorities.

Notes:

1. Figures may have been impacted on by the COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions.

Rent levels and income from rents (charts 3 & 4) (tables 1a, 8 & 9)

19. In 2020-21 of the 26 Local Authorities with their own housing stock raised a total of £1.2bn in income (net of losses from empty properties) from standard rents on dwellings and a further £27m in rent from other HRA properties such as garages.

20. The average rent per dwelling (including both let and un-let properties) was £75.76 per week in 2020-21^[4]an increase of £2.47 since 2019-20. In the decade since 2011-12 average rents have increased by just under £10 or 15% in real terms i.e. over and above general inflation. In 2020-21 there is variation between councils in average rents, from £61.49 per week in Moray to £97.46 per week in the City of Edinburgh.

21. These figures may be lower than rents reported in other publications^[5] as, rather than taking a weighted average of set rents charged to tenants, they instead reflect the amount earned by the council in respect of each property owned (calculated by dividing the Council's Standard Rental Income on houses by the total letting stock). This method takes into account the proportion of housing which spends some time un-let and those for which rent is not successfully collected.

22. Housing Benefit accounted for a high proportion of council rental income. In 2020-21, rent rebate subsidy for council house tenants was £480m, representing 39% of total income from standard rents. In 2020-21, rent rebate subsidy as a proportion of standard rents varied from 27% in East Lothian to 65% in South Ayrshire.

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.

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. Current (or nominal) prices are in the value of currency for that particular year. Current price are affected by inflation. Constant (or real) prices adjust for the effects of inflation and used to measure the true growth of a time series. Constant prices have been deflated using the Consumer Price Index (by ONS).

4. This calculation includes both let and un-let properties and therefore the amount of rent actually paid by is likely to be slightly higher.

5. Figures from 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 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 and between local authorities.