Shortage of development staff puts regeneration projects in jeopardy

Recruitment consultants said the shortages , coupled with a growing demand for development staff, are more acute than ever before. "It's definitely got worse over the last two years," said Catherine Lote, senior recruitment adviser at housing specialist Hera Recruitment. "Development consultants with no more than five years' experience are asking as much as £25 per hour, which is out of the reach of most housing associations."

The news comes at a time when the government is pushing for an increase in housebuilding, which in 2001/02 fell to its lowest level for almost a decade.

Rising salaries and delays in finding the right staff will make it more difficult to complete projects on time and within budget, according to Steve Sulston, development manager at Prime Focus Housing Association. "With the Housing Corporation now putting more of an emphasis on delivery, housing associations will have to take more notice," he said.

Competition between associations and with private sector developers is making the shortage worse.

John Barker, chief executive of Moat Housing Group, said: "We had problems a couple of months ago. We found that once the Communities Plan had been announced, we lost a few staff as other associations moved into the area. They wanted a piece of the action in the South-east and came to us as we have expertise here."

Kate Lloyd-Williams, client services director at People Media, said housing associations would suffer unless they were prepared to take on people from outside the social housing sector. "Part of the problem is that housing managers who have worked for housing associations for 20 years are unwilling to consider anyone who doesn't have a housing association background," she said.