£16.5m bonus for new homes in Lancashire

Councils in Lancashire are due to receive a £16.5m bonus next year for enabling nearly 9,500 new homes to be built in the county, the government has announced.

Across England, councils have received over £2bn through the New Homes Bonus since it was set up in 2011/12 for helping to provide 550,000 more homes.

The allocation for 2014/15 means Lancashire will have received £36.7m over a four year period for helping to provide 9,490 newly-built homes and conversions, and bringing 2,781 empty homes back into use. These figures also include 3,013 affordable homes.

Housing minister Kris Hopkins has published details of the latest New Homes Bonus payments being made to England’s 353 councils, in recognition of their contribution to building new homes. Official figures last week from the Official for National Statistics showed that housing construction has risen to its highest levels since 2007.

Under the New Homes Bonus, councils have been rewarded for helping to provide 550,000 newly-built homes and conversions and bringing 93,000 empty homes back into use. This total includes over 160,000 affordable homes. Mr Hopkins said these payments are finally giving communities a reason to say yes to new sustainable development – with councils free to spend the money as they see fit to benefit the local area, including freezing council tax.