New Homes Bonus Is Unfair And Interfering
Anthony Butcher | 23.02.2011 12:22
The coalition Government's 'New Homes Bonus' announced on Friday is unfair to Councils and will negatively interfere with local planning was the claim from critics today.
The coalition Government's 'New Homes Bonus' announced on Friday is unfair to Councils and will negatively interfere with local planning was the claim from critics today.
The scheme will reward councils with a bonus payment of six years' worth of extra council tax for every new house that is built, with an additional bonus for affordable homes. In Bristol the council will receive around £9400 for every new Band D house, but in North Somerset the Council will only receive £8540 for a similar house.
"Basing the scheme on council tax is unfair to low-tax councils" claimed Anthony Butcher, an independent candidate for Wraxall and Long Ashton in the forthcoming council elections. "North Somerset Council will receive £864 less per house on average than the neighbouring Bristol City Council simply because they charge less council tax. It's a poor idea and will only encourage councils to increase council tax even further."
Launching the scheme on Friday, Housing Minister Grant Shapps stated: "To kick-start a house building revolution, development needs to be backed by local communities rather than opposed by them. That's why we are introducing powerful new incentives giving communities a reason to say yes to new homes."
But opponents of the scheme argue that this will prevent Councils from making objective planning decisions.
"The Government is only paying this money to make Councils approve housing developments where they would otherwise reject the applications. If a developer paid the council £9000 per house to encourage them to approve new plans we would call it a bribe and bring in the police" argued Mr Butcher, who is campaigning against building projects around Long Ashton.
"Councils should be making decisions based on the needs of local people and a desire to protect existing communities and green areas without massive financial incentives influencing them. Local control is supposed to be at the core of David Cameron's Big Society idea, but this scheme is just central Government directly interfering in local planning" he continued.
The coalition Government's 'New Homes Bonus' announced on Friday is unfair to Councils and will negatively interfere with local planning was the claim from critics today.
The scheme will reward councils with a bonus payment of six years' worth of extra council tax for every new house that is built, with an additional bonus for affordable homes. In Bristol the council will receive around £9400 for every new Band D house, but in North Somerset the Council will only receive £8540 for a similar house.
"Basing the scheme on council tax is unfair to low-tax councils" claimed Anthony Butcher, an independent candidate for Wraxall and Long Ashton in the forthcoming council elections. "North Somerset Council will receive £864 less per house on average than the neighbouring Bristol City Council simply because they charge less council tax. It's a poor idea and will only encourage councils to increase council tax even further."
Launching the scheme on Friday, Housing Minister Grant Shapps stated: "To kick-start a house building revolution, development needs to be backed by local communities rather than opposed by them. That's why we are introducing powerful new incentives giving communities a reason to say yes to new homes."
But opponents of the scheme argue that this will prevent Councils from making objective planning decisions.
"The Government is only paying this money to make Councils approve housing developments where they would otherwise reject the applications. If a developer paid the council £9000 per house to encourage them to approve new plans we would call it a bribe and bring in the police" argued Mr Butcher, who is campaigning against building projects around Long Ashton.
"Councils should be making decisions based on the needs of local people and a desire to protect existing communities and green areas without massive financial incentives influencing them. Local control is supposed to be at the core of David Cameron's Big Society idea, but this scheme is just central Government directly interfering in local planning" he continued.
Anthony Butcher
Original article on IMC Bristol:
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/703452