Item 8 Appendix 4
West Dunbartonshire Council · 6 March 2024
Back to West Dunbartonshire Council — 6 March 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Housing Revenue Budget - 2024/2025 APPENDIX 4 2022/23 Outturn £000 2023/24 Probable £000 2023/24 Estimate £000 2024/25 Estimate £000 Movement in Estimate £000 Comments on Movement in Estimate >£50,000 Expenditure Employee Costs 7,179 7,986 7,669 7,870 201 Increase due to higher payroll costs ( Pay award 23/24 was circa 3% more than the budgeted allowance, further 3% allowance for 24/25 pay award ) Cost increase is partly mitigated by a reduction in the employers superannuation contribution rate in 24/25. Property Costs 2,122 2,608 2,377 2,560 183 Above inflation increase in electricity and property insurance costs reflecting rising prices across these commodities. Transport Costs 136 142 142 148 6 Supplies, Services and Admin 425 398 389 406 17 Support Services 2,550 2,681 2,720 2,788 68 Increase due to higher payroll costs within centrally funded services. ( Pay award 23/24 was circa 3% more than the budgeted allowance, further 3% allowance for 24/25 pay award ) Cost increase is partly mitigated by a reduction in the employers superannuation contribution rate in 24/25. Other Expenditure 800 789 534 330 (204) Reduced rent abatement budget reflecting tighter control and better performance on getting crucial repairs completed. Reduced legal expenses budget to align budget with current spend levels. Removal of payments to external body for tenancy sustainment since this is currently being done by Council Housing staff as part of their job roles . Repairs & Maintenance 14,839 16,035 16,257 14,983 (1,274) The revenue repairs budget has been reduced mainly to reflect that the higher costs in 2324 were due to additional work carried out both in house and by external contractors to catch up with backlog in repairs and Voids . It is expected that in 2425 the number of repairs will return back to a normal years level therefore less budget will be required. There has also been a reduction in the tenants priority repairs budget and special needs repair budgets to align budgets with historical spend. There has also been Increase in rechargeable repair income budget to align with historical income levels. These budget reductions are partly offset by an increase to repair budgets to reflect high pay and high material inflation. Bad Debt Provision 938 959 1,089 1,026 (63) Reduced irrecoverable debt budget to align budget with historical bad debt costs. Void Loss (Council Tax/Lost Rents) 2,142 1,556 1,261 1,012 (249) Reduced budgets to reflect improved void performance and lower void numbers. CFCR 2,911 - 1,729 - (1,729) CFCR budget has been removed to help fund the large increase in borrowing costs. Loan Charges 13,503 18,829 15,476 22,092 6,616 Large increase in borrowing costs following the recent rise in interest rates. Interest rates / debt financing costs are expected to reduce over the medium term. Total Expenditure 47,545 51,983 49,643 53,215 3,572
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2022/23 Outturn £000 2023/24 Probable £000 2023/24 Estimate £000 2024/25 Estimate £000 Movement in Estimate £000 Comments on Movement in Estimate >£50,000 Income House Rents 45,396 47,750 47,728 51,049 3,321 6.7% rent increase plus additional income from newly tenanted new builds Lockup Rents 206 202 217 215 (2) Factoring/Insurance Charges 1,302 1,494 1,434 1,554 120 Annual fee increase applied Other rents 116 120 117 120 3 Interest on Revenue Balance 117 146 30 146 116 Increased interest earned on cash balances following the recent rise in interest rates. Miscellaneous Income 309 131 117 131 14 Transfer from Reserves 100 2,140 - - Total Income 47,545 51,983 49,643 53,215 3,572 Net Expenditure (0) (0) 0 (0) (0)