'We'll beat Labour' on new homes

THE Government will have failed if house building levels are lower than under Labour, Housing Minister Grant Shapps has admitted.

He said a cash incentive to councils for building more homes will be "almost irresistible" and revealed the amount on offer will be increased if it fails to work.

Although critics have questioned the cost of the New Homes Bonus scheme – where the Government will match the council tax raised on each new house for six years and give even more for affordable homes – Mr Shapps insisted it will work.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We will get more homes built through a system which is truly localist," he told MPs. "If that doesn't deliver more homes, I don't know what will."

The incentive is the centrepiece of Mr Shapps's drive to increase house building after scrapping Labour's "Stalinist" regional development plans which set targets for the number of homes to be built in Yorkshire.

Many council leaders opposed the targets, and Mr Shapps insists the coalition scheme will reward communities who back new developments rather than pitting residents against developers.

The Government will match the council tax raised on each new house for six years, and increase it to 125 per cent for affordable homes in an attempt to bring down the waiting list for social housing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In opposition, it was suggested the scheme could cost 1billion although the Government has not yet given a cost for it. Mr Shapps said there was no research to suggest what level of incentive would be offered.