Brighton & Hove City Council
The Problem
Ambitious council with substantial council housing stock, huge demand, and desire to significantly expand development programme. Small housing finance team tasked with squeezing the HRA to meet competing demands. Trying to manage with old-fashioned business planning tools dating back to the introduction of self-financing with a focus on minimising debt levels rather than looking at maximising development capacity.
How We Helped
4point2 provided a modern, intuitive, HRA business planning model, and help with first population to get them started. Excel-based for confidence and ease-of-use. Tailored to their requirements and becoming the council’s own model, which they can develop themselves or get help from 4point2. The focus of the model is on business performance and increasing the provision of affordable housing rather than purely debt management.
The Outcome
Large, complex HRA run with confidence, finance team confident in maximising what is possible (and understanding what is not) with a focus on asset performance.