Measures to help first-time buyers

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Housing Minister Caroline Flint will unveil a new scheme allowing families to rent homes at a discounted rate while they save for a deposit before buying the property.

The move comes amid a slowing property market and the removal of 100% mortgages from the market, meaning that buyers must have considerable savings.

Under a pilot scheme, households earning less than £60,000 a year will be able to "rent first and buy later", with properties initially let for at least 20% less than the market rate.

Ms Flint will also announce the first four areas to get new "local housing companies" - partnerships between the council and the private sector to provide new homes on surplus land.

They are Barking and Dagenham, Newcastle, Nottingham and Manchester.

Other measures to be announced include councils who have helped make land available for development sharing in £510 million as a reward; plans to build up to 75,000 homes across 20 towns and cities with high demand; additional money, on top of the £200m already pledged, to buy up surplus housing stock and make them available as "affordable" homes.

Ms Flint said: "We are determined to continue to do everything possible to promote long-term stability and fairness in the housing market. The international credit crunch has created significant challenges not just for the UK housing market, but in other parts of Europe and the United States.

"However, the long term need to provide more homes has not gone away. We have a growing and ageing population and will only see worsening affordability unless we increase housing supply.

"That means being ambitious, but also practical and realistic, acknowledging not only the difficulties faced by individuals and families, but for those who work in the house building industry."