The first of a new series of global accounts insights produced by Vantage Business Solutions reveals figures from the published accounts of 41 local authorities with ALMOs that the collective increase in reserves is only £54 million. Further, that the majority have exceptionally low reserves in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).
Key factors contributing to this have included the 1% rent reduction and the increasing cost to support vulnerable tenants.
Local Authorities will need to continue to find ways to make greater cost efficiencies, with an emphasis on reducing inefficient R&M spend, identifying great opportunities for collaborative working and showing the capability to be resilient in reacting to policy.
Vantage are offering unprecedented insight into the sectors financial performance via the benchmarking tool Global Accounts Plus. Its aim is to empower local authorities and ALMOs to make informed decisions when setting future budgets by presenting these in a meaningful way.
To register for the Global Accounts Plus service or for further information visit https://yourvantage.co.uk/global-accounts-plus/