Where Does The Money Come From?
Capital
Most of our capital projects are paid for by Government grants (61%) and borrowing (32%) (long term loans like a mortgage which are supported by the Government) We can also use our own money for capital projects.
We raise this money by selling surplus assets and land and by undertaking additional borrowing. Loans taken out to pay for capital spending in previous years mean that we have debts.
In April 2009, these amounted to £1.05 billion. More than half of this amount was borrowed to pay for council housing. The rest was for schools, roads and buildings. The value of the assets brought in by this borrowing is £2.87 billion.
Revenue
Most of the money (65%) comes from central government grants. Income from Council Tax only covers 13% of the spending. A further 22% comes from charges for services, such as council house rents and entrance fees. The money needed for looking after council housing comes from rents from tenants and from government grants. We are not allowed to spend money raised from Council Tax on council housing.