Communities will be rewarded for helping deliver more than half a million homes across the country, Housing Minister Kris Hopkins has said.

The Minister, who is also the MP for Keighley, published final allocations for this year’s New Homes Bonus payments, totalling more than £900 million, which will be shared among England’s 353 councils. Bradford Council’s share will be £7,529,633.

The announcement means that since the New Homes Bonus began in 2011, councils will have received funding for delivering 550,000 newly-built homes and conversions, including more than 160,000 affordable homes, and for bringing 93,000 empty homes back into use.

These final allocations bring the total given to councils since the scheme started to in excess of £2 billion.

The New Homes Bonus is described as a powerful and transparent incentive for communities and councils to say yes to new development in their area.