It’s official! Tower Hamlets is to receive the highest allocation of funding under the government’s New Homes Bonus scheme in 2013/14. This is because we are building more homes than any other authority. This great news for our borough comes in figures just released by the Department for Communities and Local Government. It proves that in spite of all the claims from Tower Hamlets Labour Party to the contrary, my promise to build more homes has, and is, being delivered – and that reality is now recognised by central Government.
This new allocation enables us to build even more homes under our ‘Decent Homes Programme – and will help to keep vital services going.
Under the New Homes Bonus, the government matches the council tax raised on each new home built in England for six years. This includes bringing back empty homes into use. The allocations for 2013/14 are based on net additions to the housing stock between October 2011 and October 2012. So the Government’s bonus scheme recognises the progress that we have been making as a local authority
Our borough occupies the top spot, having seen the net addition of 3,372 new homes and a further 133 units brought back into use in the year to October.
This will entitle the council to an additional £5,961,042 in New Homes Bonus cash next year, a figure that rises to £16,070,851 when on-going payments for the first two years of the scheme are factored in, according to the DCLG figures.
Neighbouring London boroughs Hackney and Islington are second and third respectively for funding allocations based on net additions to their housing stock between October 2011 and October 2012. Barnet, Southwark and Brent are the other top-10 London authorities.
The national figures reveal that six of the 10 councils to receive the highest allocations of funding in respect of homes built in 2011/12 are London boroughs. So I would like to take this opportunity to thanks all of the members of my administration, and all of our staff here at the Town Hall for all of their collective hard work in helping to ensure that we have delivered on our promises.
