Item 15 - Housing Revenue Account Outturn for Financial Year 2025-2026
West Dunbartonshire Council · 17 June 2026
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by the Chief Officer – Resources Council – 17 June 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: Housing Revenue Account Outturn for Financial Year 2025/2026 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to advise members of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) outturn position for 2025/2026. 2. Recommendations 2.1 Members are asked to: i. note the HRA outturn 2025/26 surplus of £0.512m, a projected favourable variance (underspend) of £0.477m. ii. note the 31 March 2026 HRA reserve position of £1.122m which is £0.038m below the HRA prudential target of £1.160m. 3. Background 3.1 The Council approved the 2025/26 HRA revenue budget on the 5 March 2025 with a prudential reserve target of £1.160m. HRA prudential reserves were £0.610m on 31 March 2025. 4. Main Issues 4.1 The HRA 2025/26 surplus is £0.512m, a reduction of £0.567m on the period 10 forecast surplus of £1.079m. The movement between outturn and BCR10 is summarised in Exhibit 1. The variance between the outturn and the budget is summarised in Exhibit 2. The key changes over the last period are: • Reduction in employee spend due to tight controls on recruitment and an increase to the employee costs allocated to non HRA services. • Increase in the HRA central support allocation following a comprehensive review of the allocation model during 2025/26. • Reduction in repair spend due to tighter controls over repair spend. • Increase in the open space spend due to the Council decision in December 2025 to charge the HRA additional costs required to improve HRA open space. • Increase in the bad debt provision following a review of rechargeable repair recovery rates. • Reduction in void loss reflecting lower void house numbers in the last quarter. • Increase in HRA loan expenses due to HRA capital debt increasing as a share of overall council capital debt. ITEM 15
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Exhibit 1 – Movement between Outturn and BCR10 Budget Heading Out-turn £m Forecast BCR10 £m Change £m Key Driver Employees 7.630 8.043 (0.413) Increase in staff costs reallocated from HRA to non HRA services. Property 1.351 1.273 0.078 Electricity costs exceeded forecast. Transport 0.208 0.201 0.007 Supplies & Services 0.477 0.467 0.010 Central Support 3.074 2.586 0.488 Review of central support allocation model increased the charge to the HRA revenue account. Other Expenditure 0.374 0.371 0.003 Repairs & Maintenance 12.342 12.477 (0.135) Responsive repairs spend was below forecast. Open Space Maintenance 0.843 0.664 0.179 Council decision to increase grass cutting with an associated £0.140m charge to the HRA for works carried out on HRA land. There was also an additional charge applied by Greenspace for full cost recovery on additional works undertaken. Bad Debt Provision 1.812 1.519 0.293 Provision increased for rechargeable repair debt that has a low recovery rate. Void Loss / Council Tax 1.060 1.125 (0.065) Reduced number of void houses in the final quarter of the year. Loan Charges 27.337 27.227 0.110 Loan charge expenses exceeded forecast. HRA Expenditure 56.508 55.953 0.555 HRA Income (57.020) (57.032) 0.012 HRA Surplus (0.512) (1.079) 0.567 Exhibit 2 – Outturn compared to Budget 25/26 Budget Heading Out-turn £m Budget 2025/26 £m Variance £m Employees 7.630 7.855 (0.225) Property 1.351 1.264 0.087 Transport 0.208 0.154 0.054 Supplies & Services 0.477 0.418 0.059 Central Support 3.074 2.584 0.490 Other Expenditure 0.374 0.420 (0.046) Repairs & Maintenance 12.342 12.173 0.169 Open Space Maintenance 0.843 0.908 (0.065) Bad Debt Provision 1.812 1.119 0.693 Void Loss / Council Tax 1.060 0.831 0.229 Loan Charges 27.337 29.055 (1.718) HRA Expenditure 56.508 56.781 (0.273) HRA Income (57.020) (56.816) (0.204) HRA Surplus (0.512) (0.035) (0.477) 4.2 The key variances between outturn and budget are detailed below.
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Employee Costs - £0.225m Favourable. 4.3 Previous reports to Council highlighted employee cost pressures due to increased national insurance costs and higher than budgeted pay awards. Managers reviewed staff activity at the end of the financial year and identified increased costs attributable to non HRA revenue services including homelessness, decriminalised parking, HRA capital, and the Housing Maintenance Trading Account. These increased costs were transferred out of the HRA revenue account and delivered an employee cost underspend. Property Costs - £0.087m Adverse. 4.4 Previous reports highlighted a property cost pressure due to the block building insurance cancellation penalty and increased property insurance premiums. The HRA also incurred higher than budgeted electricity costs. These additional costs have been partly offset by underspends on other property cost budgets including rates, gas, and the office accommodation recharge. Central Support Costs - £0.490 Adverse. 4.5 Finance undertook a review of the Council’s Central Support Allocation (CSA) model during 2025/26 to assess the appropriate allocation of corporate support costs to service users including the Housing Revenue Account. The amount charged to the Housing Revenue Account exceeded the 2025/26 budget for HRA CSA costs thereby creating an overspend / adverse variance. Repairs and Maintenance - £0.169m Adverse. 4.6 Previous reports highlighted a repair cost pressure due to the high demand across the responsive repair and advised that a range of mitigations were in place to address the cost pressure including tighter controls on contractor use, the capitalisation of Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) spend that complements the environmental sensor programme, and the stringent application of the rechargeable repairs policy. The overspend reflects the ongoing cost pressure across this service area. Open Space Maintenance - £0.065m Favourable. 4.7 Previous reports highlighted a favourable variance against the open space maintenance budget reflecting the close working between housing and greenspace staff to deliver savings through revised work specifications and streamlined processes in relation to void and temporary accommodation properties. 4.8 However, at IRED Committee of 13 August 2025, Housing Committee on 20 August 2025 and Council meeting in December 2025 it was agreed to increase grass cutting with associated one off costs to the HRA of £140k in 2025/26 (£65k towards HRA extra grass cutting and £75k towards the cost of seasonal staff to reinstate HRA grass cutting to 2024/25 levels). In addition to this charge a further charge of £64k was applied at year-end by Greenspace in line with full cost recovery of service provided. Therefore, although year- end had a favourable position, it was lower than anticipated due to the increased costs to be paid for open maintenance works in 2025/26.
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Bad Debt Provision - £0.693m Adverse. 4.09 Previous reports highlighted that performance recovering debt and outstanding debt levels is kept under constant review and that HRA debt levels have increased alongside the increase in the amount billed to tenants / owners. A review of the collection rate for rechargeable repair debt led to an increase in the amount set aside for future irrecoverable debt. Void Loss / Council Tax - £0.229m Adverse. 4.10 Previous reports highlighted cost pressures across the HRA council tax budget and void loss budgets. While there has been considerable progress in reducing void numbers and void rent loss, including further reductions in the number of void houses in the final quarter of the last financial year, expenditure exceeded budget. Reducing void loss and council tax payments remains an operational priority and the Council’s Void Working Group and Building Services Improvement Plan will support further improvement in this key area. Loan Charges - £1.718m Favourable. 4.11 Previous reports highlighted that a range of measures would contribute to a significant underspend on HRA loan charges including reduced HRA borrowing, early termination of long-term fixed rate loans that delivered a one- off benefit to the HRA, and the allocation of funds held in a General Fund suspense account to reduce HRA debt. The outturn was in line with earlier forecasts. 4.12 Members will be aware of the significant risk and uncertainty around forecasting local authority borrowing costs and recent geopolitical events in the Middle East have contributed to an increase in the interest rates payable on new temporary and new Public Work Loans Board (PWLB) borrowing. Consequently, there is a risk that debt interest payments exceed budget in the short term. Income - £0.204m Favourable. 4.13 Previous reports advised that the favourable variance against the HRA income budget related to a prudent approach when setting the rental income budget given the uncertainty over the timing of new build and buy back properties being available for rent. The outturn was in line with earlier forecast. 5. People Implications 5.1 There are no people implications. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 Other than the financial position noted above, there are no financial implications of the budgetary control report. There are no procurement implications arising from this report.
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7. Risk Analysis 7.1 None 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1 The report is for noting and therefore no Equalities Impact Assessment was completed for this report. 9. Consultation 9.1 All services involved in delivering the HRA revenue budget have been consulted during the compilation of this report. 10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 Proper budgetary control and sound financial practice are cornerstones of good governance and support Council and officers to pursue the five strategic priorities of the Council’s Strategic Plan. This report forms part of the financial governance of the Council. This report is for noting and, therefore, does not directly affect any of the strategic priorities. Laurence Slavin Chief Officer – Resources Date: 17 June 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Person to Contact: Jim McCarron - Business Unit Finance Partner Telephone: 07772 322055 e-mail james.mccarron@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendices: Appendix 1 - Budgetary Position (Revenue) Appendix 2 - Variance analysis (Revenue) Background Papers: None Wards Affected: All
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