Poor northern councils are worse off thanks to flagship Government policy the New Homes Bonus, research suggests.
While local authorities in London, the Southeast and East Anglia have benefited from £177m more than they would have done without the house building scheme, analysis by The Financial Times suggests those in the north and Midlands have comparatively lost out.
Some £2.2bn has already been spent under the programme, which redistributes money to English councils that have granted permission for new housing and bought vacant residences back into use.
Calculations based on how much town halls would have received if the Bonus was allocated in the same way as the general formula grant suggest the 50 most deprived councils have lost out on £111m, while the 50 least deprived have gained £96m.
The National Audit Office is also reported to have found ‘little evidence’ that the Bonus has made a significant change to council behaviour towards planning approvals since its launch in 2011.
Housing minister Brandon Lewis said the New Homes Bonus was ‘simple and easy to understand’ as ‘areas building the most homes receive the most money’.
However, Labour’s shadow housing minister Emma Reynolds branded the policy a ‘disaster’.