The government must give a lead on private sector improvements if the new regeneration powers for councils are to work.
That was the view of Council of Mortgage Lenders senior policy advisor Jackie Bennett at a Northern Housing Consortium conference in Blackpool.

Bennett said national coordination is needed to avoid the confusing prospect of 400 different schemes with varied rules springing up, and councils reinventing the wheel each time.

The lenders' representative has held talks with some leading councils that want to get help to private owners, particularly in regeneration areas.

Bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Housing and Joseph Rowntree Foundation are also willing to help develop structures that could deliver loans, grants and other aid.

But the DTLR must "get a grip" on the situation and offer clear ways forward, Bennett said. "One possibility is a local authority indemnity to lenders against the house price falling. We need a guarantee that is simpler than those of the past, and we do not want to hold negotiations with 400 separate authorities."

Bennett also urged councils to get involved and share the financial risks.

"If they want it to work, they must put something in, whether it be in the form of administrative support or pump-priming funds," she said.

Bennett said help to intermediate bodies was the most likely funding route for lenders under the new regime.

Loans to individuals are not regarded as lucrative business because values and incomes are low.

She would not rule out loans to local authorities, however.

But Bennett warned that lenders will not back housing regeneration projects without strong evidence of action to get to the root cause of why the housing is unpopular or run down.

"There is no point in propping up a market without looking at transport, schools, crime and wider regeneration. That is a prerequisite," she explained.