Grenfell Council Spends More Than £90k On Bosses' Bonuses

Bosses at the council responsible for Grenfell Tower received bonuses totalling more than £90,000 in the year after the fire, it has emerged. It was also revealed housing staff at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea had bonuses totalling £131,800. A survivors' group called the payments "abhorrent" since some households still do not have permanent homes. RBKC said bonuses were based on an employee's "individual performance" and the scheme was under "full review". The council also said: "No-one got a bonus specifically for helping respond to the fire." Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47540281

Persimmon Sales Soar As Boss Takes Home £100m Payout

Persimmon hoped to put controversy over its executive pay scheme behind it by reporting that full-year profits will beat market expectations after revenues soared last year on the back of “healthy” demand. The FTSE 100 housebuilder sold 16,000 homes in 2017, 6pc more than the year before, helping push revenues up 9pc to £3.4bn. Its average selling price climbed 3pc to £213,300. Persimmon said it "continued to experience healthy customer demand for new homes through the autumn sales season", adding that forward sales at the end of the year were 10pc higher than in 2016 at £1.4bn. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Help To Buy: ISA – 6 Things You Might Not Know

1.       Several banks and building societies offer the Help to Buy: ISA

2.       You can put up to £200 away in your Help to Buy: ISA per calendar month

3.       Your bonus funds must be used towards your property’s completion

4.       The interest you earn on the money in your account will count towards your government bonus

5.       When you are ready to purchase your first home your solicitor or conveyancer will apply for your bonus

6.       You need to apply for your bonus within 12 months of closing your account

Read more details on the Treasury website.

Help To Buy: ISA – 6 Things You Might Not Know

1.       If you’re thinking about opening a Help to Buy: ISA on 1 December, here’s some useful information.  Several banks and building societies have already committed to offer the Help to Buy: ISA from 1 December

2.       You can put up to £200 away in your Help to Buy: ISA per calendar month

3.       Your bonus funds must be used towards your property’s completion

4.       The interest you earn on the money in your account will count towards your government bonus

5.       When you are ready to purchase your first home your solicitor or conveyancer will apply for your bonus

6.       You need to apply for your bonus within 12 months of closing your account

For more details see the Gov.uk website.

250,000 Would-Be Home-Owners Open Help To Buy Isa

The 250,000 total equates to one account every 30 seconds or more than 3,000 a day across the UK. The Government said figures provided by some of the banks offering the new Isas show that three-quarters (75%) of people who have opened them so far have been aged 30 and under. First-time buyers can put up to £200 a month in a dedicated Isa that the Government will top up by 25% - meaning a £ 50 bonus for every £200 saved. The maximum Government bonus is £3,000. To receive that, someone will need to have saved £12,000.First-time buyers can also open their account with a one-off lump sum of up to £1,000 in addition to the monthly £200 maximum deposit. Read more on the Express & Star website.

A Month To Go To The Help To Buy: ISA Government Bonus

With one month to go until launch date, the government has confirmed the five simple steps first time buyers need to follow to claim their government bonus from the Help to Buy: ISA:

1.       first time buyer puts money away in a Help to Buy: ISA account

2.       first time buyer closes their account when they are ready to purchase their first home and receives a closing letter from their ISA manager

3.       first time buyer gives the closing letter to their solicitor

4.       using the letter, the solicitor applies online for the government bonus

5.       bonus is transferred to the solicitor, who completes the purchase of the home using the full bonus amount

Read more on the GovUK website.

Another Inglorious Failure

The New Homes Bonus scheme was meant to be a reward to councils that encouraged housebuilding. There was some Treasury funding at first but the main method of funding was to ‘top slice’ normal council grants. There was therefore always going to be a redistributive effect from some councils and to others. Analysis in the Financial Times concludes that the NHB ‘has shifted cash from poor northern councils to rich areas in the south with little evidence that it has boosted homebuilding.’ The FT quotes the National Audit Office finding that there is ‘little evidence’ that the bonus has change councils’ behaviour in terms of planning, contradicting ex Minister Mark Prisk’s claim that it would bring about ‘at least 400,000 additional homes’. According to the authors, NHB has cost £2.2 billion so far – which happens to be 50% more than the annual affordable grant programme. For that money, to justify itself the policy should be delivering major improvements in housing approvals and delivery. It plainly isn’t. Read more on the Red Brick blog.

ALMO’s '£600,000 Bonus Pay-Outs'

Labour councillors in Westminster have called on the city council to launch an independent investigation in to a BBC report on the City West Homes Bonus scheme which "may incentivise officers to refuse expensive repair jobs on aging council homes." CityWest Homes, which handles housing stock for Westminster Council, has, in the past year, according to the BBC, paid bonuses of almost £600,000 to 226 employees - with the highest single bonus paid being £39,769. The BBC report on 7 February claims an employee at CityWest said there was a direct conflict of interest between residents' needs and maximising payouts. Read more on 24dash.