In last week’s Autumn Statement, the government announced that not only would the NHB for London be cut by £70m from 2015, it would remain in the hands of the London Local Enterprise Panel, which is chaired by the Mayor of London.
This is in contrast to the rest of the country where NHB funds were protected, and plans to top-slice the money given to councils were dropped.
London Councils chair Jules Pipe said today: ‘All Londoners should be outraged by this move. If the New Homes Bonus is essential for councils in Leeds and Manchester to fund the pressures of growth, why should Londoners be any different? This must be reversed.
‘The very fact that it has been proposed raises fundamental questions about the governance of the growth agenda in London and the government’s commitment to it.’
The NHB is a Whitehall grant awarded to councils for increasing the number of homes in their areas. It is based on the amount of extra council tax revenue raised from new-build homes, conversions and long-term empty homes brought back into use.
Responding to the commenets, housing minister Kris Hopkins said: 'The Greater London Authority has a statutory role in both housing, planning and regeneration in London.
'It makes sense that councils and the Greater London Authority are joined up, and both share in the incentives to support more new housing in the capital.'
