The government has denied that it is mothballing an initiative to create 300,000 homes above shops, despite the housing minister admitting the ODPM was struggling to overcome 鈥渁 number of barriers鈥� to the project

Campaigners and the property industry had hoped that the 鈥渇lats above shops鈥� scheme, which had been championed by former housing minister Lord Rooker, would have become reality by now.

In a report submitted to the government in September 2003, the British Property Federation called for the creation of a national agency to bring retailers together with housing providers such as housing associations to release the 鈥渁irspace鈥� above shops for housing.

The Housing Corporation had been asked to draw up a business plan for the proposed agency, which would have smoothed problems over leases and gaining access to the potential homes.

However, in a written parliamentary answer last Tuesday, housing minister Yvette Cooper said: 鈥淭his is a potentially useful source of housing units, which could also help in reviving town-centre living. There are, however, a number of barriers preventing much of this potential from being realised, including the complex ownership patterns in high street property.

鈥淲e are considering a number of ways in which these barriers might be overcome, and we will announce how we intend to take this forward in due course,鈥� she added.

Her comments were taken by campaigners to mean that the initiative, which had been hailed in previous years by John Prescott as a possible solution to the housing crisis, had been shelved.

Roger Humber, a planning consultant, said: 鈥淪o is this another much-publicised initiative that has disappeared into the long grass? Besides getting supermarkets to build flats through mixed development, is the use of 鈥榓irspace鈥� a dead duck?鈥�

Cooper鈥檚 comments come as housebuilders continue to predict that the numbers of housing starts are, as one put it, 鈥渓ikely to fall off a cliff next year鈥� because of a market slowdown.

This was confirmed on Tuesday by ODPM figures that showed the average house price in April was 拢181,832, down from 拢183,346 in March.

An ODPM spokesperson said: 鈥淲e would have liked to have done something by now but we are getting down to the nitty-gritty and hope to get something decided on this as soon as possible.

It is not being mothballed.鈥�

The initiative鈥檚 progress so far 鈥�

  • September 2003 British Property Federation publishes report calling for national agency

  • July 2004 Housing minister Keith Hill says government has set up a taskforce to 鈥渄eal with that problem鈥�

  • Autumn 2004 Housing Corporation and English Partnerships working on 鈥渟coping study鈥�

  • June 2005 Yvette Cooper admits 鈥渂arriers鈥� are proving hard to 鈥渙vercome鈥�