The Borough Residents' Forum was scheduled to consider updates on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan and proposals for a new Resident Participation Strategy. These discussions were intended to inform residents about the council's financial plans for housing and its approach to involving residents in decision-making.

HRA Business Plan Update

The Forum was scheduled to receive an update on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan. This plan outlines the financial framework for the council's housing stock, which comprises approximately 33,200 properties, including tenanted and leasehold homes. The HRA is a ringfenced account, meaning income generated from council housing is used exclusively for housing-related expenditure.

The report was scheduled to detail the financial pressures facing the social housing sector, such as increased costs due to building safety regulations, damp and mould obligations, and inflation. It was also scheduled to provide an update on the HRA capital programme, which totals £662.980 million over four years (2026/27 to 2029/30). This programme includes significant investment in existing stock and new housing delivery, with a substantial reliance on borrowing. The report was expected to highlight that borrowing is forecast to reach £848 million over the next 10 years, leading to a sharp increase in debt costs.

A key aspect of the update was scheduled to be the revised Council Rent Policy, which was to be adopted from April 2027. This policy was to incorporate the government's new rent convergence provision, allowing for additional weekly increases above the standard annual rent increase for social rent tenancies where the rent is below the nationally calculated formula rent. The report indicated that this provision could impact up to 9,900 tenants and generate additional income to support investment in existing homes and reduce reliance on borrowing. The report also included an Equality Impact Needs Assessment concerning the proposed rent policy changes, which highlighted that older tenants are disproportionately represented among those affected by rent convergence and may experience increases for longer.

Proposals for a New Resident Participation Strategy

The Forum was also scheduled to consider proposals for a new Resident Participation Strategy. This strategy is intended to replace the existing approach and aims to meet the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard set by the Regulator of Social Housing. The proposed aims include wider participation, dedicated tenant and leaseholder voices, earlier involvement in decision-making, more diverse ways to participate, better use of funding, and more visible impact of resident involvement.

The new strategy was planned to introduce a simplified framework with supporting documents detailing specific schemes. Key proposals included a tenant-only scrutiny group, tenant-focused surveys, and working groups on service priorities such as repairs and complaints. Leaseholders were also to have clearer routes to influence services, with new actions planned to develop engagement standards and improvement plans, review service charge transparency, and explore opportunities for collective enfranchisement in leaseholder-only blocks.

The proposed structure was to shift from area-based to topic-based scrutiny groups, with opportunities for task and finish groups to address specific issues. The strategy aimed to broaden access routes for residents, moving beyond reliance on resident association membership, and to establish a single code of conduct for all engagement activities. The implementation timeline outlined a process of resident involvement in co-designing the strategy, starting with a survey in September 2026, followed by drafting and consultation, with a view to Cabinet approval in early 2027. The report included appendices detailing the aims and intended outcomes, tenant satisfaction measures for 2025-26, leaseholder engagement actions, the proposed engagement structure, benchmarking of resident engagement strategies, and an implementation timeline.