By Martin Hilditch (Inside Housing)Last updated: 27 April 2007 at 09:11 GMT Study predicts move away from demolition and renovationThe housing market renewal pathfinders that oversee large-scale housing demolition programmes will be transformed into drivers of new house building, a new report has indicated.The study, from consultants Ecotec, which scrutinises the pathfinder programme for the government, has predicted a major shift in focus for the two pathfinders in greater Manchester.Their emphasis would jump from demolition and renovation to increasing the supply of homes, it states.Building new housing was becoming an increasing priority for the government and for the region, the report argues.‘The housing market renewal pathfinders will therefore become delivery agents of new supply during the second half of their lifetime,’ it states.A lack of suitable housing could have a similar effect in the region ‘to that experienced in London and the south east in terms of provision for “key workers” in the city region’, it adds.Brendan Nevin, a consultant with NLA associates who worked on the report, said the change would be a logical next step for the pathfinders. A combination of buy-to- let investment and an influx of migrants had led to house prices shooting up in the region, Mr Nevin added.The growing affordability crisis in the north was unlikely to be tackled by private house builders alone, he added. This left pathfinders with a key role in forging alliances between private and public sector bodies. ‘There have to be new public private sector partnerships to fill the gap and that could be the pathfinders for the second half of their lives,’ he said.‘There comes a point in every one of the pathfinders’ lives when they move from having dealt with the issue of low demand housing to being more of a regeneration project.‘What we have got to now is the turning point, which has come very quickly for some of them.’Mike Gahagan, chair of the South Yorkshire pathfinder, agreed that new build would become an increasing feature of the programme but that it should not be seen as the full story. The pathfinders would still have a role to play in improving run-down estates, he added.‘There is a bit of a shift because affordability issues are growing,’ he said. ‘But the problems of poor quality housing and lack of choice become no less.‘There is certainly going to be a shift but I don’t think that the focus will change completely.’Give your views in Your Forum
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