Cornwall Council has been allocated £17.06 million from the recently announced New Homes Bonus allocations for 2017-2018 – the second-highest allocation in the country under the government’s New Homes Bonus scheme.
Introduced by the government to support and reward local communities for new housing development, the New Homes Bonus is based on the number of additional homes – including those brought back into use – added to the council tax register.
In Cornwall, a total of 2,785 new homes were delivered in 2016, with 719 of those being affordable homes – the highest number in the country.
Cornwall Council cabinet member for Housing and Environment, Joyce Duffin, said:
“The achievement of such a significant amount of funding reflects the fact that a key priority of the council is the delivery of housing – and, in particular, the delivery of affordable housing to help meet local need.
“We are committed to delivering both the new Cornwall Local Plan and our Housing Investment Plan, which includes a range of initiatives to provide high- quality housing for families in Cornwall – including Contemporary Cornish Living, with building on the two pilot sites in Bodmin and Tolvaddon just about to get underway; and the Homes for Cornwall initiative, which is on track to deliver over 430 new homes across Cornwall over the next four years and where, just last week, we celebrated the success of a brand new development of 100% affordable homes to rent and buy in Blackwater near Truro.
“We are also working hard to bring long-term empty properties back into use as well as investing in our Registered Provider partners to build more affordable homes.”
Cornwall Council Cabinet Member for Planning, Edwina Hannaford, added:
“The adoption last November of the Cornwall Local Plan means we can now have certainty over planning policies and focus our attention on raising the quality of development across Cornwall.
“These policies include respecting the special qualities of our landscape and historic environment – and putting green infrastructure at the heart of development.
“Good planning is about creating sustainable community – not just building housing estates – and this award will help achieve this.”
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