02 December 2005
Council-owned housing companies should be able to borrow money privately in the same way as registered social landlords, lenders have told ministers.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders, whose members already lend money to RSLs, has come out in favour of giving arm's-length management organisations access to private finance. The report is ahead of an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister review into Almos' future.
Andrew Heywood, senior policy adviser at the council, said it made sense for Almos to be able to borrow privately, although lenders would want to take into account that they do not own homes in the same way as RSLs.
'There is scope for making borrowing by Almos sufficiently arm's length from the government that they are outside the public sector borrowing requirement,' he said.
The CML's statement came in the same week as the National Federation of Almos published a report on funding options, commissioned as part of the ODPM review.
This report concludes that it is not feasible for councils to transfer ownership of their stock to an Almo but adds that Almos should be able to leave the housing subsidy system.
PFdec2005
