Yvette Cooper, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Caroline Flint, Minister for Housing and Planning, launched the review of the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy system today.

The review was launched at the House of Commons before an invited group of key stakeholders. It will build on the work of the pilots conducted with six local authorities which looked at the costs and benefits of councils operating outside the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system.

It will consider evidence about the need to spend on management, maintenance and repairs. It will consider rent policy, including the relationship between council rents and rents set by other social housing providers. It will also consider how the self-financing model developed in the pilot exercise would fit with the aims of the review and, if it is consistent with these, how it could be implemented. And it will consider whether the rules which govern the operation of the HRA need to be changed in order to fit with a new system of financing.

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The review commenced with a constructive debate on the draft terms of reference and, to take the work forward, the Ministers announced that the Chartered Institute of Housing would be hosting a number of expert workshops on the main themes of the review to gather evidence to inform the review.

Ms Flint said: "The Housing Revenue Account Subsidy system is very complex and I know that people are unhappy with it because of its seeming unfairness and lack of transparency. I want the system to work so that it delivers for tenants and local authorities - and to get it right in the long term. This review, with the active engagement of key stakeholders, is essential to that. I also welcome the work of the Self-Financing Group, which will contribute significantly to the review."

(CD/JM)