The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006

Citation, commencement, application and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006 and shall come into force for the purposes of this regulation and regulation 15 on 31st March 2006 and for all other purposes on 1st April 2006.

(2) These Regulations apply only in relation to local authorities in England(1).

(3) These Regulations do not apply to parish councils and charter trustees(2).

(4) In these Regulations, “the Principal Regulations” means the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003(3).

Interpretation

2.—(1) In regulation 1 of the Principal Regulations (interpretation), in paragraph (5)—

(a) after the definition of “the 1993 Act”, there shall be inserted—

• ““affordable housing” and “provision of affordable housing” have the meaning given in regulation 17;”;

(b) after the definition of “associates”, there shall be inserted—

““available capital allowance” has the meaning given in regulation 15;

“available Social HomeBuy allowance” has the meaning given in regulation 16A;”; and

(c) after the definition of “small scale disposal”, there shall be inserted—

““Social HomeBuy disposal” has the meaning given in the Schedule;”.

(2) At the end of the Principal Regulations, there shall be added the Schedule which is set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Social HomeBuy receipts

3.  After regulation 9 of the Principal Regulations (payment made to redeem landlord’s share), there shall be inserted—

“Social HomeBuy receipts

9A.   For the purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 1, a premium received by a local authority on or after 1st April 2006 in respect of a Social HomeBuy disposal which, apart from this regulation, would not be a capital receipt, shall be treated as a capital receipt.”.

Capital receipts not exceeding £10,000

4.  In regulation 10 of the Principal Regulations (capital receipts not exceeding £10,000)—

(a) at the beginning of paragraphs (1) and (5) there shall be inserted, in each case, “Subject to paragraph (7),”; and

(b) after paragraph (6), there shall be added—

“(7) Paragraphs (1) and (5) do not apply in relation to a premium received by a local authority, on or after 1st April 2006, in respect of a Social HomeBuy disposal.”.

Pooling of receipts from disposals of housing land

5.  In paragraph (4) of regulation 12 of the Principal Regulations (pooling of receipts from disposals of housing land), after sub-paragraph (a), there shall be inserted—

“(aa) to the extent not included in sub-paragraph (a), 75 per cent of the capital receipt, received by a local authority on or after 1st April 2006, in relation to the disposal of the authority’s rights and obligations as mortgagee of any dwelling;

(ab) to the extent not included in sub-paragraph (a) or (aa), 75 per cent of the capital receipt, received by a local authority on or after 1st April 2006, in relation to a Social HomeBuy disposal; and”.

Capital receipt treated as reduced

6.  In regulation 14 of the Principal Regulations (capital receipt treated as reduced)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “paragraph (2)” there shall be substituted “paragraphs (2) to (2C)”;

(b) at the end of paragraph (1), there shall be inserted—

“; and

(d) an amount, by which the authority determines that it shall be reduced, which may be an amount up to the value of its available Social HomeBuy allowance at the time the specified amount is calculated.”; and

(c) after paragraph (2), there shall be inserted—

“(2A) Paragraph (1)(c) shall not apply to capital receipts, received by a local authority on or after 1st April 2006, which the local authority derives from the disposal of the authority’s rights and obligations as mortgagee of any dwelling, where that dwelling was disposed of by the authority—

(a) under Part V of the Housing Act 1985 (right to buy)(4); or

(b) with a relevant consent, to a person who, when he acquires that dwelling, occupies or intends to occupy the dwelling as his only or principal home.

(2B) Paragraphs (1)(a) to (1)(c) shall not apply to capital receipts, received by a local authority on or after 1st April 2006, which the local authority derives from a Social HomeBuy disposal.

(2C) Paragraph (1)(d) shall only apply to capital receipts, received by a local authority on or after 1st April 2006, which the local authority derives from a Social HomeBuy disposal.”.

Total capital allowance

7.  In regulation 16 of the Principal Regulations (total capital allowance)—

(a) at the beginning of paragraph (1), there shall be inserted “Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4),”; and

(b) at the end, there shall be added—

“(3) In the case of contributions which the authority has decided to make but has not yet made towards the costs of the project specified in regulation 17, sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (1) shall only apply where the authority has decided that it will not use receipts derived from Social HomeBuy disposals to make those contributions.

(4) A local authority’s total capital allowance at a particular time shall not include the value of any amount which is included in the local authority’s total Social HomeBuy allowance, as determined by the authority at that time in accordance with regulation 16B.”.

Social HomeBuy allowance

8.  After regulation 16 of the Principal Regulations (total capital allowance), there shall be inserted—

“Available Social HomeBuy allowance

16A.   For the purposes of regulation 14(1)(d), the value of a local authority’s available Social HomeBuy allowance at a particular time is the value of its total Social HomeBuy allowance at that time, as determined by the authority in accordance with regulation 16B, less the total value of any amounts by which capital receipts have been treated as reduced by virtue of regulation 14(1)(d) prior to that time.

Total Social HomeBuy allowance

16B.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purposes of regulation 16A, a local authority’s total Social HomeBuy allowance is the total value of—

(a) the amount of contributions which the authority has made, or has decided to make but has not yet made, on or after 1st April 2006, towards the costs of the project specified in regulation 17 by—

(i) acquiring dwellings or other land to be used for affordable housing;

(ii) preparing land for development for affordable housing;

(iii) constructing, improving or repairing dwellings to be used for affordable housing;

(iv) providing dwellings, to be used for affordable housing, by the conversion of a building or a part of a building;

(v) paying a contribution, grant or subsidy under any power conferred on the authority under any enactment; or

(vi) giving consideration for any benefit that the authority has received, or will receive, by virtue of the provision of affordable housing; and

(b) to the extent to which it is not included in sub-paragraph (a), the amount of the expenditure which the authority has incurred, or has decided to incur but has not yet incurred, on or after 1st April 2006, by—

(i) making a grant under section 129 of the Housing Act 1988 (schemes for payments to assist local housing authority tenants to obtain other accommodation)(5) where the purpose of the grant is to assist a tenant or licensee of the authority to move out of a dwelling which is to be used for affordable housing once the tenant or licensee has moved out of it;

(ii) meeting the administrative costs of or incidental to a Social HomeBuy disposal;

(iii) to the extent to which it is not included in paragraph (ii), meeting the administrative costs of or incidental to the running of a scheme by the local authority to make Social HomeBuy disposals, regardless of whether the local authority makes particular disposals; or

(iv) where a Social HomeBuy disposal is made by the authority to a purchaser and that purchaser is required to pay rent to the authority in relation to any interest that the authority still has in the dwelling disposed of, meeting the administrative costs of or incidental to the collection of that rent.

(2) Sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph (1) only apply where—

(a) in the case of contributions made or expenditure incurred, the local authority used capital receipts derived from Social HomeBuy disposals to make those contributions or incur that expenditure; or

(b) in the case of contributions or expenditure which the local authority has decided to make or incur but has not yet made or incurred, it has decided to use capital receipts derived from Social HomeBuy disposals to make those contributions or incur that expenditure;”.

Provision of affordable housing

9.  In regulation 17 of the Principal Regulations (provision of affordable housing)—

(a) at the beginning of paragraph (1), for “In this regulation” there shall be substituted “In these Regulations”;

(b) at the end of paragraph (1), there shall be added “, and “affordable housing” shall be construed accordingly“; and

(c) in paragraph (2), for “regulation 16(1)(c)” there shall be substituted “regulations 16(1)(c) and 16B(1)(a)”.

Capital receipts reduced by costs of buying back “right to buy” dwellings

10.  In regulation 19 of the Principal Regulations (capital receipts reduced by costs of buying back “right to buy” dwellings)—

(a) in paragraph (1), after “Subject to”, there shall be inserted “paragraph (1A) and”; and

(b) after paragraph (1), there shall be inserted—

“(1A) This regulation does not apply to a capital receipt derived from a Social HomeBuy disposal.”.

Capital receipts reduced by costs of buying back dwellings in preceding year

11.  In regulation 20 of the Principal Regulations (capital receipts reduced by costs of buying back dwellings in preceding year)—

(a) in paragraph (1), after “Subject to”, there shall be inserted “paragraph (1A) and”; and

(b) after paragraph (1), there shall be inserted—

“(1A) This regulation does not apply to a capital receipt derived from a Social HomeBuy disposal.”.

Capital receipts reduced by consideration for former new town assets

12.  In regulation 20A of the Principal Regulations (capital receipts reduced by consideration for former new town assets)(6)—

(a) in paragraph (1), after “Subject to”, there shall be inserted “paragraph (1A) and”; and

(b) after paragraph (1), there shall be inserted—

“(1A) This regulation does not apply to a capital receipt derived from a Social HomeBuy disposal.”.

Transitional reductions for debt-free authorities

13.  In regulation 21 of the Principal Regulations (transitional reductions for debt-free authorities)—

(a) at the beginning of paragraph (1), there shall be inserted “Subject to paragraph (1A),”;

(b) after paragraph (1), there shall be inserted—

“(1A) This regulation does not apply to a capital receipt derived from a Social HomeBuy disposal.”; and

(c) in paragraph (2), for “regulations 14 to 20”, there shall be substituted “regulations 14 to 20A”.

Use of capital receipts

14.  In regulation 23 of the Principal Regulations (use of capital receipts)—

(a) at the end of sub-paragraph (f), there shall be inserted “; or”; and

(b) at the end, there shall be added—

“(g) where the capital receipts are derived from a Social HomeBuy disposal—

(i) to make contributions towards the costs of the provision of affordable housing by any of the ways specified in paragraphs (i) to (vi) of regulation 16B(1)(a); or

(ii) to incur expenditure by any of the ways specified in paragraphs (i) to (iv) of regulation 16B(1)(b).”.

Calculation of minimum revenue provision

15.  In regulation 28 of the Principal Regulations (calculation of minimum revenue provision)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for the definition of HC, there shall be substituted—

“HC is to be calculated in accordance with the formula HD - HE.”; and

(b) after paragraph (1A)(7), there shall be inserted—

“(1B) For the purposes of the definition of HC in paragraph (1)—

(a) HD is—

(i) in the case of a housing authority, the opening HRA capital financing requirement for the current financial year; and

(ii) in the case of any other local authority, nil; and

(b) HE is—

(i) in the case of a housing authority whose opening HRA capital financing requirement for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 was a negative amount, that amount; and

(ii) in the case of any other local authority, nil.”.

Signed by authority of the First Secretary of State

Phil Woolas

Minister of State

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

1st March 2006