WAVERLEY Conservatives have reacted angrily to the governments response to their request to change the rent tax system, which sees the council paying almost 50 percent of its rental income to central government. Richard Gates wrote to Ian Wright, Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department of Communities and Local Government, concerning the rents tax system which saw Waverley pay £10.8 million to central government in 2008/9, which, councillors say, equates to £2,000 per home or £40 per tenant per week. However, the minister's response has left Conservative councillors bemused and angry. Mr Wright also refused to meet with Mr Gates and his colleagues. Richard Gates, Conservative Leader of Waverley Borough Council, said "The Minister acknowledges in his letter that he has become increasingly aware that the system is unpopular and widely perceived as unfair. But all he promises is a review, with no terms of reference and no timetable. Frankly this just is not good enough. "I have asked him to think again about at least a short-term solution for Waverley while the usual interminable review grinds on. If they can cap council tax, why can't they cap this grossly unfair rents tax, which is nothing more than a surcharge on our tenants? "Sauce for the goose is obviously not sauce for the gander." A communities and local government spokesman said: "We recently announced a wide-ranging review of the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy System to be led jointly by Communities and Local Government and Treasury. The review will be asked to recommend a long-term, sustainable system for financing council housing which enables councils to plan effectively for the future. "We are aware that the existing system is perceived as unfair by many authorities who generate notional surpluses under its formulae. As the system operates currently, there is no alternative to the redistribution of assumed rent surpluses to those authorities with assumed deficits. This is one of the reasons behind the review. "The review will encompass the work of the self- financing project which is looking at how local authorities and ALMOs could become self-financing and opt out of the HRA subsidy system. We also need to ensure that a new or revised system will be consistent with wider housing policy, including the establishment of a regulator of social housing. "The review will make its final report in spring 2009, setting out a way forward for the subsidy system, rents policy across all social housing, and spending needs for council housing. There will be a number of opportunities for stakeholders to engage in the review prior to more general consultation."
