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Anger as councils foot bill

Author: The Times   |  

Hundreds of building projects will be cut to fund Gordon Brown’s £1.5billion social housing programme, The Times has learnt.

Furious council leaders have demanded an urgent meeting with ministers after being told that their plans are in jeopardy because there is no new money to pay for the Prime Minister’s policy, which was announced ten days ago.

Mr Brown said that £1.5billion would be found across Whitehall to fund up to 20,000 new homes for those on low incomes and on council house waiting lists. The policy was at heart of his proposed legislative programme before next year’s election.

But the Department for Communities and Local Government, which was forced to find nearly £600million, has said that the money will have to be taken from existing housing programmes as well as from plans to refurbish council and private rented homes.

John Healey, the Housing Minister, has written to leaders of 50 councils saying that they will each lose millions from their capital allocations for next year to build and support new homes. More than 42 per cent of the fund, which is for areas that have been designated by the Government as needing new homes, has been cut.
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