£700,000 homes bonus

OLDHAM Council is to receive an extra £700,000 from the Government as a reward for building new homes.

The money is the final allocation of the New Homes Bonus, which has shared £668 million among England’s 353 councils.

The funding rewards councils for building over 142,000 new homes and bringing almost 18,000 long-term empty properties back into use.

Councillor Dave Hibbert, cabinet member for housing, transport and planning, said: “This year we secured £708,231. This year’s allocation is helped by the 308 long-term empty homes brought back into use.”

The Government has been heavily criticised for promoting a north-south divide with the fund, which has tended, say critics, to favour southern councils with the money to encourage new home building