The government has cleared the way for more urban regeneration companies to be created.
The move follows an assessment of existing URCs that concluded the bodies, which work to encourage private sector involvement in regeneration, were a success.

The ODPM said there would be no official limit to the number of URCs that can be set up. But a spokesman warned that "regional development agencies can only support so many".

There are now 16 URCs in England; in 2000, the urban white paper set a target of 15.

The ODPM has also revised its guidance on the requirements for URCs. The spokesperson said: "We want to make sure proposals are properly thought through."

Chris Brown, development manager of regeneration firm Igloo, said there was "massive" demand for URCs across the regions. He added : "It was always nonsense that the government imposed a limit."

But Richard Kemp, acting chair of the Local Government Association's housing executive, said: "I am unimpressed. The government has [recently] accepted Sir John Egan's report saying local authorities were in the lead in steering regeneration programmes, but most URCs cut out local authority involvement."