Need for rebuilding

Run-down Estates "Should Get Housing Cash"

The money should be steered towards re-developing "the very worst properties", particularly in those areas which were unlikely to attract private finance, said the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank. Such re-development would mean knocking down and rebuilding some estates, it added.

The Government is committed to releasing £5 billion of local council capital receipts, money the authorities have received from the sale of council houses, for building new housing and renovating existing stock.

But with the backlog of disrepair adding up to several times this amount, the money must be targeted "very specifically", the Institute said.

"Next month's Budget should aim to steer capital receipts towards those neighbourhoods which are least likely to attract private finance in their present condition," the report said.

This meant re-developing the most run-down estates and high-rise blocks, said Brendan Nevin, one of the Birmingham-based authors.

The report also called on the Government to allow local authorities to develop their own housing business plans. The aim would be to have an investment blueprint for each area. This approach would build on the work of local partnerships, which have already being pioneered in cities such as Newcastle and Coventry.

In return, the Government should introduce a duty on councils to consult local residents when drawing up the plan. The Institute argues housing policies should be tailored to local housing market conditions, and the days of central government dictating how local housing strategies should develop "should be numbered."