- Councils have failed to spend £375m earmarked to ease the housing crisis
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Posted 23.04.18
Huffpost: Article link
Data obtained by Huffpost shows more than £375 million is sitting in councils' bank accounts instead of being used to tackle the housing crisis. Two-thirds of that cash - £235 million - is being held by just 14 councils.
One housing campaigning group labelled the findings as "staggering", while the National Housing Federation called it "deeply concerning".
The money comes from Section 106 Agreements, which allows councils to get money from developers in exchange for granting planning permission for projects. The cash has to be used for specific tasks, such as affordable housing, highways repairs and even public art.
The article goes on to list the 14 councils with most unspent S106 money, including the individual amounts and how much of each is 'uncommitted'.
The true amount of money set aside for affordable housing could be significantly higher, with many councils either ignoring or refusing to give the data requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
