Brown puts housing at top of agenda
Updated on 11 July 2007
Housing has been made a top priority by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as analysts warn first-time buyers have never been at greater risk.
Property prices are at their most unaffordable for 16 years with young people having to borrow record amounts of money to get on the ladder.
Mr Brown published a list of Bills to be included in the Queen's Speech this autumn, breaking with the tradition that its contents are kept secret until the formal State Opening of Parliament.
In a Commons statement, the Prime Minister said a new Housing Bill will create an agency charged with bringing surplus public land into use for house building, deliver more social and affordable housing and support regeneration.
Up to 100,000 homes could be built on 550 publicly-owned brownfield sites to be released by the Government and Mr Brown added that he wants 3 million new homes built by 2020 - over a quarter of a million more than previously planned.
And the Prime Minister said there would be a new regime to help mortgage lenders finance "more affordable" fixed rate mortgages over 20 to 25 years.
The Queen's Speech will also include a Health and Social Care Bill and a Children in Care Bill as well as introducing new measures in the Criminal Justice Bill which will be carried over into the next Parliament.
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