By the time you read this it is likely a budget would have been set for Hastings Borough Council on Wednesday 15th February. Hastings Borough Council will increase council tax by 2.99%. East Sussex County Council, which makes up the bulk of our council tax bill, will raise their part of council tax by the same margin plus and an extra 2% for adult social care, a total of 4.99%. These increases are well below inflation, currently running at around 10%.
These percentage increases are government set limits. Councils do have the ability to increase council tax by a much bigger margin but would need to hold a referendum locally, which no council in the country have been brave enough to try.
Taking inflation into account, the increases on paper represent a decrease in council income in real terms. This means the council will have to do a little less to help keep our bills lower.
This, of course, is not easy. The biggest variable in the council budget and the area that has the greatest financial impact currently is temporary accommodation. The council is desperately fighting to keep spending on temporary accommodation down which has ballooned, almost out of control.
Housing residents who find themselves unintentionally homeless is one of Hastings Borough Council’s statutory duties and, currently, there are around thousand people who are being temporarily accommodated by the council. The impact on the local budget being, if nothing is done to reduce this cost, the likelihood is the council could go broke.
A special council taskforce has been set up to look at this expenditure and how the costs can be reduced. So far, it has identified more than £4 million in savings on this service over the next three years by speeding up applications; buying more of their own property instead of outsourcing and reducing claimants.
The increase in need for temporary accommodation is obviously the bigger question. Many will point the finger at rising rents and fewer properties being on the market but the reasons are varied and complex. Many landlords are selling up because of restrictive tax policies, others are using property for Airbnb rentals and since covid more people moved to the coast for a better lifestyle. Whichever the reason, rental property is in short supply.
We must look to repurpose empty buildings, build more homes in the town centre and tackle the challenging problem of long term lets being lost to short term seaside Airbnbs. All difficult and mainly long-term solutions.
The lack of rental properties at affordable rates has many knock-on effects. Not only does it reduce the flexibility for people to move for work but has also put the council in a very difficult financial position.
