The verdict

• £2bn for ALMOs, £685m for PFI credits, £1bn for key workers, £500m for pathfinders, £446m for Thames Gateway, £164m for the othe three priority growth areas

• possible scrapping of financial penalties for councils in partial transfer, possible gap funding of negative value stock

• housing ownership taskforce to explore options to help tenants into low-cost properties

• regional housing boards and single regional investment pots of cash to replace ADP and HIPs

The North-West
The North-west suffers from low demand and housing market failure in some places, like Manchester and Liverpool, whereas south Manchester and north-east Cheshire experience high demand and a lack of affordability. Much of the stock in low-demand areas is in poor condition, and 14 of the region's 43 local authorities are currently at risk of failing to meet the decent homes target by 2010. Overall 440,000 homes in the region are affected by low demand, and as a result four of the nine market renewal pathfinders are in the North-west.

The idea of partial transfers and the boost to arm's-length management organisations are therefore welcome as alternative options to transfer.

But the mood in the area is not entirely upbeat. Flo Clucas, executive member for housing at Liverpool council, feels more money could have been spent there.

In particular, the constraints on local authorities to borrow money to improve stock is something Clucas had hoped would be addressed."I'm upset that the only solution for councils to deal with their housing problems is to hive off their stock to someone else. There was an opportunity to allow local authorities to borrow money in the way housing associations do to remedy problems."

The North-East
"The Communities Plan is not going to narrow the gap between the North-east and the South," says Tony Flynn, chair of the North-east Assembly. "Additional resources are needed to invest in infrastructure and attract more jobs to the region – unless it's done now, the disparity will only grow. Some of the problems in the South-east could be helped by investing more money here."

Peter Stott, managing director of Home Housing Group, points to the chaos caused recently by modest snowfalls in and around London as a sign that money could be better spent elsewhere. "The plan accepts the inevitability of economic growth happening in the South-east, without taking into account the cost. The infrastructure is coming under such pressure that encouraging economic growth elsewhere should seen as a way of relieving things."

Key housing figures feel that apart from money confirmed for the Newcastle/Gateshead market renewal pathfinder, it's hard to find anything that specifically addresses the North-east's problems. Meanwhile, those waiting for a regeneration of areas hit by market failure in Teesside will have to take what comfort they can from government promises to work with partners in tackling the issue. The best approach, given the circumstances, may be for councils to watch, learn, and prepare a case for inclusion in a pathfinder at a later date.

London
The capital bears the brunt – along with the South-east – of the key worker and affordable homes crisis. House prices are twice the national average, 50,000 households are in temporary accommodation and, according to the Greater London Authority, 345,000 more homes are needed by 2016, including 10,000 affordable homes each year. So, with £446m earmarked for the Thames Gateway, a slice of the £164m for the other growth areas destined for the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor, £1bn for key workers and a £100m extension of the Challenge Fund, surely the capital has fared well under the plan?

Not necessarily, says GLA policy director Neale Coleman, who estimates that affordable homes alone will cost £600m.

However, funding for Thames Gateway – which contains 4000 ha of derelict land – will at least allow the London Development Agency and English Partnerships to assemble brownfield sites and get projects on site. Coleman points out that the mooted Urban Development Corporation will also have a big role to play. The LDA, meanwhile, is concerned that any new housing must be accompanied by transport improvements so that London creates sustainable communities rather than soulless new developments. The GLA's Coleman agrees – he wants to see funding for infrastructure that will encourage private developers to invest and get housing projects off the ground. For Sue Ellenby at the London Housing Federation, this stage is key as it will ensure that the government avoids producing "horrible housing estates in the middle of nowhere". She will be lobbying to ensure housing associations – as the "crucial delivery vehicles" – are closely involved in the decision-making process. In a way, the jury is out until May when the Cabinet committee for the area outlines its vision for exactly how the area will proceed.

Prescott's measures to encourage councils to bring empty properties back into use through compulsory leasing may help recycle the 93,000 vacant properties across London.

Yorkshire and Humber
With abandonment and low demand the most pressing issues – government figures put the number of houses that could be affected as high as 476,000 – there is much good news for the area in the plan. The region welcomes the share in the £500m confirmed by Prescott for the area's two market renewal pathfinders, covering 250,000 homes in the south and east of the region.

The other problem of 81,000 council homes and 130,000 private sector homes being at risk of missing the decent homes standard will, it is hoped, also be helped by the plan through possible gap funding for negative value stock transfer and extra ALMO funding. Cities such as Sheffield will look to the £2bn earmarked for further ALMO rounds as a partial solution to its predicted difficulties in meeting the decent homes standard. And with regional planning guidance suggesting that an additional 15,000 households are forming each year, Yorkshire and the Humber will look to pick up some of the £1bn set aside for keyworker housing.

Plans for the establishment of regional housing boards have been well received, partly because the region had worked on developing its own strategy before the announcement. The parties which will form the board – the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward; the regional assembly; and the local housing forum – have been discussing a joint plan for the last 18 months. Just how robust the strategy is by the time it's put in place remains to be seen. But one thing's for sure, according to Rob Warm, social policy official for the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly: "It will not reiterate the notion that our only priority lies with market renewal or bulldozing houses."

Devolved regional decision-making with the involvement of all interested parties will allow for more flexibility in tackling the problems, while also helping to focus funding like never before, says Jim Battle, head of the National Housing Federation's north region. "Any new housing schemes will have to be justified on economic grounds; everything will have to thought out in terms of infrastructure needed, shops, medical facilities."

The West Midlands
Birmingham's housing has been in the spotlight since its stock transfer failed last April, and the Communities Plan could spell good news for the city. Tom Murtha, chief executive of Keynote Housing Group, welcomes debt relief for partial stock transfers. "This will have an impact on Anne Power's ideas for 35 community-based housing organisations. Some of these areas will want to improve their stock and the only way will be through the partial transfer route."

He adds that the partial stock transfer route takes on an even greater significance because most areas in the West Midlands would not score highly enough on their best value ratings to be able to use ALMOs to regenerate their stock – and 60% of homes in the area are failing the decent homes standard.

Housing associations are beaten in land deals by the private sector. We don’t want to have this money and then not be able to spend it because the price of land is too high

Edwin Barnes, NHF

The area is already a winner as problems of low demand and market collapse have led to north-west Birmingham, Sandwell and North Staffordshire being named as two designated pathfinder areas. Taken together they have more than 120,000 homes with a population of around 300,000.

And partnership working between the newly announced nine regional boards that will have representatives from local government, Housing Corporation and English Partnerships is also welcome. Sue Manns, Planning and Transport Manager at regional development agency Advantage West Midlands adds: "In some areas we have market failure and in the rural areas there is an affordable housing problem where agricultural workers can't afford houses. Now there is a recognition that there is a need to make connections between the regional economy and urban and rural renaissance."

The creation of the Land Restoration Trust and English Partnerships' target of reclaiming 1400 ha of brownfield land a year are good news in a region that suffers from wide variations in use of brownfield. It has a target of 65% of development on brownfield land, but this is as low as 28% in Hereford and as high as 90% in Coventry and Sandwell.

The South-East
This region includes parts of three of the four growth areas – the Thames Gateway, Ashford and Milton Keynes – and more Challenge Fund cash is on the way to help with the construction of up to 411,000 homes. But the number of households in housing need in the region is spiralling – it fell about 5000 homes short of its last regional planning guidance target of 28,000 homes – and there are fears that parts of the region not in the growth areas will lose out.

Once the Challenge Fund is spent, funding for the South-east will only be increased in line with inflation, warns Sharon Hedges, policy officer for the regional branch of the National Housing Federation. She feels planning must be improved if the homes are to be built: "We have to address the recruitment and retention issues of professional planning staff; and planning needs to be more positive and not just development control."

John Barker, chief executive of Moat Housing group and spokesman for the newly formed lobby group Consortium of Associations in the South-east, points out that the growth areas will need significant extra spending on infrastructure from other government departments, such as health, education and transport.

Barker adds that there will be "an interesting dynamic" as the East, South-east and London compete for the same pot of funds from 2004/05. But he applauds the idea of a regional housing board to bring English Partnerships, the regional development agency and regional assembly together. He wants registered social landlords to be consulted on the board's plans and to have preferred developer status on land acquired by English Partnerships.

The East
"If there is more cash coming into the region and we have being acting strategically and investing wisely, there is no limit to what can be achieved on the east of England," says David Harrison, assistant director of investment for the East at the Housing Corporation.

Experts in the East welcome the Communities Plan as a way of tackling the region's widely varying housing needs.

Much of the region is rural, transport links are patchy and the growth of second homes has led to locals being priced out of the market.

The East includes two of the four growth areas – the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor and the eastern part of the Thames Gateway – and so wins money for these areas. Plans for the land restoration trust, run by English Partnerships, Groundwork and the Forrestry Commission,are good news for deprived areas like Great Yarmouth, Harrison says.

I’m upset that the only solution for councils to deal with their housing problems is to hive off their stock to someone else. Local authorities should be able to borrow money

Flo Clucas, Liverpool council

The fact that the ODPM viewed the region as distinct from the East Midlands has also been praised. Edwin Barnes, regional officer for the National Housing Federation, says: "We could have been lumped in with the East Midlands and not got anything."

The region will get an extra £10m in approved development programme funds next year, although Barnes warns that this will not be much use if land prices remain high: "Housing associations are beaten [in land deals] by the private sector. We don't want to have this money and then not be able to spend it because the price of land is too high." Compulsory leasing of empty homes and the expanded role of English Partnerships in land assembly should help tackle this issue.

The area's RSLs welcome the creation of regional housing boards in coordinating funding and delivery – but they are keen to have a place on it.

There is another doubt about infrastructure – experts want to know more about the possible expansion of Luton and Stansted airports but a decision won't be taken until the summer. This may mean some hasty rewriting of the regional housing strategy.

The East Midlands
Housing professionals in the East Midlands have a head start when it comes to the Communities Plan – a group including the government office for the East Midlands, the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships, the East Midlands Development Agency and regional assembly have operated a regional housing board in shadow form since 2002.

Milton Keynes is within this region and its share of the £164m set aside for the growth areas will be crucial as the East Midlands' population is expected to grow by 8% by 2021.

Now, with prosperity in the south of the region but with north Derbyshire and north Nottinghamshire suffering low demand and voids following colliery closures, it is vital for the East Midlands that the type of housing it has is right for the different areas. "In the northern coalfield area we need a better quality of housing stock so we can encourage people to live and work there, whereas in other areas there's a shortage of starter homes and decent stock," says Julie Tanner, planning and transport adviser at the East Midlands Development Agency. Nottingham and Derby are a focal point for the agency in its work with English Partnerships. Tanner welcomes confirmation of regional boards as a way of drawing all the partners together.

The £2bn for ALMOs was welcomed by a region where only 56% of local authority stock meets the decency standard. Leicester council housing director Mike Forester says: "This is something we'll look at, especially as we have a waiting list of about 13,000 people who need housing in areas that were previously low demand." Forester also welcomes proposals to tackle the problem of empty homes by allowing councils to lease properties that have been empty for over six months.

The emphasis on English Partnerships and regional development agencies to reclaim more than 1400 ha of brownfield land a year is good news for an area where just two fifths of new homes were built on such land between 1997-2000, and with two fifths of the 2800 parks in the region in a state of decline, the plan's £201m for quality of life issues is also welcome.

The South-west
With no growth areas, no rise in funds above inflation and no Challenge Fund opportunities, one south-west housing professional describes the area as the "poor relation" of the Communities Plan. Look at the challenges in the region and it is indeed difficult to see why the region has missed out: house prices have soared by 87% in the past five years, the area is home to the fastest growing population in England – an extra half a million households are expected by 2021 – and the region mixes urban house price hotspots, like Bristol, with expensive villages full of second homes. There are also significant homelessness problems in some areas and poor rail links to the west of the region. Ian Crawley, head of neighbourhood and housing services at Bristol council, is equally disappointed with what has emerged so far. "They haven't seen the South-west as part of the high demand problem."

Monika Strell, regional officer for the National Housing Federation, agrees: "The South-west compares with the South-east and London but we felt the Communities Plan is not reflecting that at the moment. The promise to build new affordable housing won't be able to be reached with the resources coming into the South-west. The government has promised to increase funding for the South-west only in line with inflation but land and construction costs increase faster than inflation."

The council has 17,000 people on its housing waiting list; it loses about 500 homes a year through right to buy but only 400 affordable homes are built annually.