8 January 2019
Southern counties missing out on New Year government bonuses
Planning
The New Homes Bonus is a grant paid by central government to local councils to reflect and incentivise housing growth in their areas. It is based on the amount of extra Council Tax revenue raised for new-build homes, conversions and long-term empty homes brought back into use.
According to new figures released by the website Planning Resource locations in the south east fare very poorly in terms of local authority top-up goodwill payments to reward housebuilding.
While Tower Hamlets tops the chart with nearly £21million, Adur for example is fourth from bottom of a very long list with only £125,000. Lewes doesn't fare much better with £475,000 and for a city of its size Brighton & Hove £2.117million is surely a missed opportunity in terms of generating revenue.
SHW Director of Planning Alex Bateman said: "These figures and their consequences for provision of local services surely represents the third of a triple whammy councils suffer by not encouraging enough units. Missing out on these payments obviously the first, as well as widespread failure to hit Local Plan targets, leading to a knock-on inability to house growing populations."
Contact:
Alex Bateman
01273 876265
