More than £900 million has been earmarked for the New Homes Bonus over the next four years, with £200 million allocated in the first year.<br> <br> The Bonus is the incentive created by the government to encourage local authorities to build new homes – every new home built will attract an annual financial bonus for the local authority for six years equal to the annual council tax payable on that home.<br> <br> The amounts emerged as part of chancellor George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review.<br> <br> It is understood that the £900 million will be in addition to the central government grant to local authorities, but – as the amount of New Homes Bonus payable to local authorities grows beyond this figure – the extra will be increasingly top sliced from the grant.<br> <br> Housebuilders were encouraged that the chancellor confirmed the government’s commitment to building new homes and reducing regulation during his CSR statement. This followed hard on the heels of housing minister Grant Shapps delivering a similar message to the industry at October’s Housing Market Intelligence conference.<br> <br> Both the chancellor and the minister see housebuilders as a solution to providing affordable and market homes to make up for …