The new homes bonus : twenty-ninth report of session 2013-14, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

The New Homes Bonus was introduced as a financial incentive for local authorities to encourage the building of new homes.

The scheme is funded from existing local authority grants.

GBP7.5 billion will have been redistributed between councils by 2018-19, so there is a lot of money at stake.

It is clearly vital that the incentives work and the Government achieves its aim.

It is therefore disappointing that after more than two years of the scheme being up and running, no evaluation is in place and no credible data is available to show whether the scheme is working or not.

So far the areas which have gained most money tend to be the areas where housing need is lowest.

The areas that have lost most tend to be those where needs are greatest.

The Department has yet to demonstrate whether the New Homes Bonus works.

Is it helping to create more new homes than would have been built anyway?

Is it the best way for Government to use its limited resources to create more homes where they are needed most?

Its planned evaluation of the Bonus scheme is now urgent