Reported in the Evening Telegraph this week Peterborough City councils growth strategy to create 24,600 homes has been approved by the government. This includes 85 homes on top of the 190 homes already approved for Eye. Although the leader of the council Councillor Marco Cereste said he was delighted with the news, Eye and Thorney Councillor David Sanders attacked the designation of Eye as a “Key Service area”.
Its also been reported that the government plans to give councils a cash bonus for every new house built which could prove to be a good cash bonus for the Council if it goes ahead. Under the ‘New Homes Bonus’, the Government will agree to match the additional council tax raised by every new house built for the next six years. This could add up to many thousands of pounds, with homeowners living in an average Band D property paying up to £1,375 in council tax every year. So a council which agreed for 100 new Band D homes to be built would be entitled to £825,000 of extra central Government funding over six years.
Whether this money will go towards the communities affected by the house building remains to be seen but with money tight, the clashes between councils and residents objections to new housing developments will continue.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has also pledged that the Government will match council tax revenue raised on every traveller home on new legal sites for six years.