The Birmingham Sandwell pathfinder is to get £50m of government funds despite an Audit Commission report that called the body’s proposals to boost the area’s housing market “underdeveloped”.

The commission’s report into the pathfinder, Urban Living Housing, was used by the ODPM in assessing the plans to improve the market in the south-west of Birmingham.

The commission praised the pathfinder’s data collection but recommended 17 ways in which the project could be improved.

Its proposed stabilisation programme was deemed not radical enough to handle the structural weakness of housing stock in the area, and the commission said more work was needed to manage the impact of housing improvements on the surrounding areas of Sandwell.

Meanwhile, the North Staffordshire pathfinder has been awarded £30m funding and judged to have produced a strong set of market renewal proposals.