Money matters

摘要

It was John F Kennedy who famously said: "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining' - and on the face of it this seems to be good advice. We have Right to Buy (RTB) -extended to housing associations and funded by selling off high value council houses when they become vacant. We await the plan that will help avoid the unintended consequences of this policy. Next up was the summer Budget announcement requiring councils and registered social landlords to not just cap rents to Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%, but to reduce rents by the same percentage for the next four years - against the backdrop of some of the biggest welfare changes in generations which will make collecting rents more difficult even if they are reduced.