CIPFA and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) have released a new joint voluntary code of practice for local authorities for use with their Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA).

The new code expands upon areas not previously covered by legislation or guidance and is designed to help authorities assess and develop effective governance and financial management frameworks for their HRA.

Ben Taylor, assistant director at CIH consultancy, said: 'Local authorities need to ensure they have appropriate arrangements in place to manage their self-financed HRA. This principles based code will give a framework to stock owning councils to help the HRA remain viable while contributing fully to meeting housing needs in a way that is accountable to tenants, members and other stakeholders.'

In addition, CIPFA has launched an IT based HRA Self-financing Performance Toolkit, which generates an in-depth assessment for local authorities to use to judge their performance against a series of benchmarks.

CIPFA's lead housing advisor, Dr Louise Dunne, said: 'When resources are stretched and budgets are tight, local authorities need something to help them realise their goals easily and cost effectively. The new joint CIPFA and CIH code alongside CIPFA's new toolkit provides just that.'