Social housing group seeks 1 billion in aid

The group representing the social housing sector is in talks with the government to free 1 billion pounds of public funds to bail out the new homes market, the Times reported.

The money would be used to buy tens of thousands of mostly inner-city flats and family homes - which were expected to be sold to private buyers but are empty or part-built - at a heavy discount from beleaguered housebuilders, the paper said.

The proposal from the National Housing Federation (NHF), the body that represents Britain's housing associations, is under consideration by ministers at the Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government, it added.

If the package is agreed, it could kick-start the moribund housing market by buying at least 10,000 units and help the sector deal with the sharpest slump in sales for over a generation.