Housing market renewal

This section sets out our policy for market renewal and provides a case study for each pathfinder area.

Housing market renewal is a programme to rebuild housing markets and communities in parts of the North and the Midlands where demand for housing is relatively weak and which have seen a significant decline in population, dereliction, poor services and poor social conditions as a result. Its objective is to renew failing or weak housing markets and reconnect them to regional markets. £1.2 billion is being invested between 2002 and 2008 and the Government has committed a further £1.038 billion to the programme over the period 2008-2011.

Nine pathfinders are being used to turn neighbourhoods around so that people want to live and work in these areas again, and to ensure that communities can remain together.

National evaluation of the housing market renewal programme

To complement pathfinder's own evaluation work and the scrutiny of the Audit Commission, Communities and Local Government commissioned an independent report - National Evaluation of the HMR Pathfinder Programme - Baseline Report. Early findings demonstrated that pathfinders have already made a significant contribution to the regeneration of their communities but it is far too early to make firm about the impact of the programme on local housing markets.

Contact us

For further information on market renewal pathfinder issues please contact the market renewal team at Communities and Local Government on:

Tel: 020 7944 3136
Email: market.renewal@communities.gsi.gov.uk