Moved by
Lord Tope
57: After Clause 6, insert the following new Clause—
“Indebtedness
(1) The Localism Act 2011 is amended as follows.
(2) Section 171 (limits on indebtedness) is repealed.
(3) In Part 7 of the Localism Act 2011 insert—
“Definition of indebtedness
(1) A local authority shall determine and keep under review the amount of housing debt held by that authority.
(2) A determination under this section must have regard to the duty to determine an affordable borrowing limit under section 3 of the Local Government Act 2003 (duty to determine affordable borrowing limit).
(3) A determination under this section must have regard to any guidance issued or approved by the Secretary of State.
(4) A local housing authority may not hold debt in contravention of a determination under this section.
(5) In this section “housing debt”, in relation to a local housing authority, means debt—
(a) which is held by the authority in connection with the exercises of its functions relating to houses and other property within its housing revenue account, and
(b) interest and other charges in respect of which are required to be carried to the debit of that account.””