The Times: Housing costs metric "disproportionately benefits London"

Posted on December 18, 2025

With Outer London revealed as the biggest winners from the Fair Funding reforms, our Chair, Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton, spoke to The Times about how the inclusion of housing costs in the Index of Multiple Deprivation is a subsidy for London suburbs.

"Northern Labour MPs are concerned that some poorer areas will lose out because the revised formula for calculating support takes cost of housing into account, which disproportionately benefits London...

Sir Stephen Houghton, Labour leader of Barnsley council and chairman of Sigoma, which represents 50 urban authorities outside London, said the capital’s suburbs had been left as 'the biggest winners from this review', adding that 'many of the most deprived communities [face] further cuts after a decade of austerity'."

You can read the full article in The Times here.