The housing finance system under close scrutiny again has just highlighted how close it is to collapse, after government officials deemed the Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA) as `unaffordable`. This leaves poorer Tenants in the precarious state of looking to finance the shortfall through benefits or a future in a Shanty town.

Under the then communities secretary Ruth Kelly an examination of the complex housing finance system took to looking at the possibility of local authorities and arms-length management organisations (ALMO`s) breaking away from the HRA finance in the hope of creating a more independent sector.

The price for this as submitted by six local authorities and ALMO`s in which these proposals were tasked too, found that the scheme would be far to expensive. However, the chief executive of Sheffield Homes warned “sticking with HRA was a bad option as the refurbishment of homes through the `Decent Homes Programme` would have to applied again within ten years`

Calculating it over a 30 year period Sheffield Homes declared that if nothing is done about HRA it would be left with a £900 million pound hole in its maintenance budget. Significantly the Audit Commission has backed up the call to seek an alternative to HRA as it sees the uncertainty being created as a blow to this sector.

While it may be simplistic to describe `HRA` as a pot of money that subsidises maintenance, it however comes from all tenants rental income via a loop of government offices skimming a large chunk of it, in which they have been criticised for by such as defend council housing.

Critical however is that with the loss of such a system what benefits could be envisioned for a tenant on a flat rate housing benefit in which costs to the housing sector out-strip the value of it. Already voiced is a call for tenants ahead of the full Privatisation of the housing sector to tailor there need for a home to circumstance. If this means rents becoming affordable only by those that can earn beyond the norm there will be only one option left for those below, either by subsidising the shortfall from benefits or moving to the nearest shanty town.