15 March 2002
Manchester City Council is to put the scheme, under which the value of investments would be protected if house prices fell, to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Such a scheme could also be taken up by other local authorities in the North and Midlands, which are urging the government to set up a £8bn market renewal fund to boost rundown areas.
Manchester stressed this week that the scheme is just one of a number of proposals it is looking at and that no decision had been made.
Jim Battle, head of the National Housing Federation's North region, said it would help stimulate demand if councils could offer some form of assurance to buyers. He said: 'Local authorities, housing associations and the private sector need as many tools in their bag as possible.'
A report to be published next week by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is expected to call for a radical overhaul of the planning system so that more homes are built where they are required.
The study will highlight the need for more affordable housing for key workers, as well as calling for improvements in housing quality.
The foundation argues that demand for housing over the next 20 years has been 'seriously underestimated', and that the number of affordable homes being built is about 50% of that needed.
PFmar2002
