Council in line for six-figure pay day

A payout is on its way to Rochdale Council after Housing Minister Mark Prisk announced the latest allocation of the New Homes Bonus this week.

The scheme, launched in April 2011, has seen £1.3billion distributed to councils in England as reward for new housing being built.

Rochdale will receive £619,023 - to be paid in the next financial year - after providing 455 new homes between October 2012 and October 2013.

Of those 455 new homes, which included 108 empty properties being bought back into use, 137 of them were deemed to be affordable housing.

These were part of 12,252 new homes provided in the North West, of which 5,900 were classed as affordable housing.

Councils throughout England will now share a provisional total of £661million in the latest allocation of the New Homes Bonus, with more than £57million going to the North West.

Mr Prisk believes the fund is key to securing housing growth for the future.

“For years, developers found themselves at loggerheads with communities unconvinced that their plans for growth would benefit them,” he said. “But the New Homes Bonus is turning this around.

“The £1.3billion paid out to date means local people are able to see the rewards of new developments in their area – paving the way for thousands of much-needed, locally-supported homes to be delivered.”