Local councils are being given a hefty incentive to build new homes as the New Homes Bonus kicks in.
326 local authorities in Britain will now receive £200 million in funding this year under the New Homes Bonus scheme, in a bid to encourage housebuilding in their local area.
Councils will receive anything between £5,000 and £4 million in handouts from the government, depending on how big the area. The bigger the area and the population, the more funding the council gets.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps is leading the scheme, which will put the onus on local councils to decide where to build new homes, instead of the traditional system where the government decided where to build.
Mr Shapps said in a statement that, “the system where Whitehall told communities what homes they need to build never worked. Housebuilding declined for years… and the construction industry suffered terribly.”
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