The review will be carried out next July and will determine future expenditure on housing up to and including April 2005. It will set the framework for rent increases throughout the social housing sector, as well as government investment.
The calls come as government announced it would investigate the array of government regeneration initiatives to ensure they amounted to money well spent as part of the review.
A Treasury task force will scrutinise spending by a wide range of government departments on "intervention in deprived areas" and judge the success of all regeneration schemes, such as the Single Regeneration Budget and New Deal for the Communities.
A spokesman said the review would build on the work of the Social Exclusion Unit by ensuring money spent on regeneration was reversing the decline of deprived areas. "It has been put in to make sure that any work being done is being done properly," he added. Its scope and remit will be finalised by the end of the year.
Meanwhile the Local Government Association said new policies and funding to bring social housing up to scratch needed to be implemented before the Green Paper finally made its way on to the statute book.
LGA chair of housing Paul Jenks said: "If ministers are serious about tackling issues of regeneration and social exclusion swiftly measures are urgently needed to achieve more affordable rents across the social housing sector."
LGA head of housing Paul Lautman said there was concern that "people's eye might have been taken off the ball" because of the possibility of new legislation.
"People understandably are focusing a lot on the housing Green Paper, but the important point is that the comprehensive spending review will provide the financial framework in the short to medium term for housing, and we want to make sure that it addresses housing problems."
Source
Housing Today
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