The release of the New Homes Bonus allocations for 2013-14 based on the 2011-12 housing completions have caught my attention this week but I am interested to know whether others feel the £value sums alone are telling the full picture. There can't genuinely be a feeling this is extra money and the exercise is not basically cost-neutral overall? I am interested to know whether anyone's Authorities have done detailed analysis of the impact of the top-slice from Grant Funding to deliver the NHB against subsequent receipts from new development. I can see how this may be difficult to separate given the overall impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review and reduction in overall resources more widely. However, there must be wider interest about whether achieving development locally is adding any additional value in terms of sums available to leave places better-off than they might have been? The sums flowing towards London appear large but rural, less Grant-dependent, areas might prove more revealing in terms of capturing additional benefits versus similar locations with much lower housing delivery. Cheers, Jon
