TOWN halls will finally be allowed to keep the rents and receipts from their housing stock, in a further easing of Whitehall's grip on councils.
Housing minister Grant Shapps announced he would dismantle the 20-year Housing Revenue Account subsidy system, under which the money goes to the Treasury for redistributing from a central pot.
The move will embarrass Labour, which – despite fierce pressure from councils – only pledged to scrap the system in the dying days of Gordon Brown's government.
But the end is unlikely to come quickly. Labour warned it would take two years, because legislation will be required to reach agreement with all councils. The biggest stumbling block is the £17bn of historic debt in the system, which will have to be redistributed across 200-odd authorities.
