Asset Management Strategy 2022-2027
The Council owns and manages over 18,000 homes valued at £733.4m; in addition, we have non-residential buildings valued at a further £12.2m.
The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is the financial account used to manage the Council's activities as a landlord. It can only be used to provide services to Council housing tenants and is funded through the collection of rent and other service charges.
The condition and financial performance of these buildings (ie how much rent we get from them) decides how sustainable the HRA is. The quality of our buildings and how they perform also directly affects our residents and their quality of life.
We have worked to understand the investment we need to make in our buildings to make sure they are sustainable and they meet the legal standards.
We plan to look beyond just the condition of our properties and identify ways we can better use our land, commercial units and other non-domestic buildings to support local communities and the HRA.
To ensure the viability of the HRA, we must make immediate decisions on the long-term future of some of our buildings. Our data tells us that some of these buildings are now unsustainable and are no longer places where residents want to live. We now need to work with customers and the people of Gateshead to effectively plan to move people out of these buildings and, where appropriate, consider alternative uses for the buildings that best meet the needs of existing and future customers.
This strategy will guide our approach over the next five years so that we can protect our buildings and tenants and ensure that we make well-informed investments and do not risk the HRA's sustainability. The strategy will be reviewed annually to help us develop our longer-term plans.