Ministers ‘must build homes and fight repossession’

Ministers must adhere to home building targets and continue to offer debt help to those facing repossession, a new report has argued.

However, the publication – entitled Housing and the Credit Crunch – raised concerns about how much money the government has borrowed from future budgets to meet its goals.

Put together by the Communities and Local Government Committee, the paper noted that it has not yet been revealed how the £975 million of public money brought forward from the 2010-11 budgets will be replaced.

Commenting on the report, committee chair Dr Phyllis Starkey stated: “The credit crunch has not reduced the numbers of households needing new housing … further action is needed if the government is to have a chance of meeting its targets.”

Meanwhile, the Treasury has announced that bailed-out lender Northern Rock is to supply billions of pounds’ worth of mortgages over the next two years in a bid to boost the flow of credit into the property sector.

By Jamie Price