Rooker in last-minute plea for more cash

A source close to the negotiations indicated that junior housing minister Tony McNulty is also being lined up to spearhead a "mega-board for the South to cover the four growth areas" – Milton Keynes, Stansted in Essex, the Thames Gateway and Ashford in Kent.

The additional money would be tens of millions of pounds and would be earmarked for partial stock transfers and arm's-length management organisations, it is understood.

The source added: "The government will want to look for a range of solutions that will cover tricky aspects of stock transfer such as breakage costs."

John Perry, outgoing policy director at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said he would like to see any extra funds going towards funding partial stock transfers and ALMOs. "The pressure on resources as a result of the Communities Plan won't get any less, so anything extra would be welcome," he added.

News of the last-minute manoeuvres came as a year-long study from Ashford council – one of the government's key growth areas in the South-east – concluded that the town and its surrounding area could accommodate a 1400 new homes every year until 2031.

The study – whose authors included planning consultant Roger Tym & Partners and architect John Thompson – also called for a special development vehicle to oversee the construction process.

It was also stressed that the increase in housing would require an increase of around £1bn in spending on infrastructure, such as five new health centres and 18 new schools. It is understood that the provision of infrastructure alongside new housing will form a key part of the Communities Plan, to be announced by deputy prime minister John Prescott (HT 12 December, page 8).

A spokeswoman for the ODPM admitted: "We are discussing with Treasury the way the money allocated in the 2002 spending review will be spent, as part of the process of finalising the Communities Plan."

Responding to reports that Tony McNulty is to head up a "mega-housing body", the spokeswoman said: "We are again considering regional arrangements for strategic use of housing resources, as flagged up by the deputy prime minister and the chancellor.

"John Prescott will announce further details in his Communities Plan statement."

Housing Today also understands that the Communities Plan announcement – originally intended for December, then shifted to January – has now slipped back to as late as February, in order to ensure all aspects are fully considered.

This will undoubtedly cause more headaches for the sector as it awaits guidance from the government as to where the £4.7bn over three years, announced by the chancellor in the July spending review, is to be allocated.

It is thought likely that the bulk of the money will go to the four growth areas and the housing market renewal pathfinders in the North and Midlands (HT 12 December, page 8).