New home builder bonuses come under attack

Politicians are furious that the chief executives of two new home developers have been paid bonuses despite the fact that their firms received kickstart grants.

It has been reported that the chief executives of housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon were paid almost £1.2m in bonuses for 2009, despite the fact that their companies received close to £40m in kickstart funding.

Although Taylor Wimpey made a net loss in 2009 and received £6.9m in kickstart funding, the company's chief executive, Peter Redfern, reportedly received a £788,000 bonus for 2009.

Meanwhile, the head of Persimmon, Mike Farley, received a £406,000 bonus for 2009, regardless of the fact that his company received over £32m of Kickstart funds.

Clive Betts, a Labour member of the House of Commons' housing select committee, commented: "When firms have been in difficulty and when public money has been used, they ought to be very careful about allocating money this way. They need to think very carefully about how it looks to the public to be handing well paid executives further bonuses."

Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrats' housing spokesperson, said: "Organisations in receipt of public money have a duty to use that wisely. It is unthinkable that, in the middle of a housing crisis, huge bonuses should take priority over new homes."

The Kickstart programme was introduced last year to help finance stalled new home projects.