The other point is, if prices fall to 3x my working wage, my house value will drop by over 50%, completely wiping out the very large deposit I put in, 18 years left til retirement at 65 now, hope things pick up before then, ask myself why I have bothered to work for last 23 years, since daughter 3.

DD, Medway UA, UK

the price you pay in the UK for housing is absurd and a correction is needed! having lived in the suburbs of NYC and London, i can tell you for a fact you get 2.5 times the size/quality and a MUCH better neighborhood in the US for the same money.

Alex, London, england

it is interesting in the UK when someone identifies themself as upper middle class and then you realize their house is less than half the average home size in the US and about 20 years out of date. certainly the taxes you pay are not justified due to the higher cost of living?

Ben, London, england

Prudence? Lets not pretend that the councils 'share' wont just be given to the 'owner/tenants' at some point. Either for free or at a fraction of its actual value.

Eric Skelton, Cardiff, Wales

Good news to thhose struggling with mortgage payments, stabalise the housing market but it is tax payer money. this stops house prices stabalise to a level that comparable to income. Lenders and borrowers will continue to carelessly lending/borrowing, reliabling on Gov' s rescure. Not good

Lin, London,

Re cncil hsing, you can't generalise a section of the population just because of where they live. In doing so you display ignorance/bigotry. My parents lived on council estates, moved out, worked hard in business, built & lived in a dream home and eventually sold it on to a premiership footballer.

Greg, London, UK

HOPEFULLY, this will just be another Zanu-Labour headline grabbing scheme, and completely forgotten about .by the end of the week.When it is found to be unworkable, or actually has tax payers rioting in the streets.

ronnie, bucks, UK

The banks say jump and the government asks "How high"? Labour have been given their orders to prop up the housing market so banks can keep raking it in from interest on high mortgages.

I wonder how many financial executive positions Gordy will hold when his political career is soon over?

Fred, Moray, Scotland

Some of these comments on council houses and the people who live in them are way out of order. Both my wife and I where brought up on council estates following WW2 and it did us no harm.Today we have a 5 bedroomed detached house but we would be just as happy in the council house I was brought up in.

Dave, mold, UK

So, the council steps in and buys a 50% equity stake in a £150,000 home. But who is going to pay the council interest on that borrowed money as the oowner clearly can't otherwise he wouldn't need the help? And when the bubble bursts, that £150K house will be worth a lot less, so the council looses

David Nammory, Liverpool,

This cannot be true. I simply don't believe it. Not even Gordon & Co could cook up such a hare-brained scheme. Somebody wake me up, please!

Mary, Birmingham, England

Sorry you feel that way Chris, but didn't you read the news the other day. It looks as though the majority of these people you mention are from your neck of the woods (Southampton being the 3rd most dangerous place to live in the UK)

Terry, Hove, UK

Why are you all moaning about benefits? If private lenders say no DSS then how else are disabled people, ill people,single parents etc supposed to find somewhere to live? Not everyone is on benefits by choice. I was short term and almost ended up homeless. Maybe I should have got pregnant

Sharon, UK, UK

The idea of buying property in a falling market is crass, and is in effect a transfer of hard eaned tax payers money to the property speculators. Cut taxes and interest rates and get the economy going again instead.

Andrew Piercy, London, UK

There are council houses in Birmingham who have had brand new central heating systems installed by the council. As an owner occupier I have to buy mine out of my own money when it comes up for renewal.

brian, sutton coldfield, Uk

Councils should not be directly involved in providing housing .
Sensible ones have farmed out to Housing Associations
which they can support but for which ultimate financial
accountability lies with Government .
C Tax payers should vote out Councils who expose them to
unknown liabilities .

john, Ipswich, uk

Nice one Fabio, have a crack at estate agents. So easy. Do you think estate agents have a super power to force people to buy?

As for this initiative, all it will do is take away peoples incentives to work hard. You've nailed it Glynn, sounds like a vote grabber to me.

David, London, UK

Use council housing money to employ unemployed builders to build council housing stock at realistic prices for councils to rent out as council houses. Or would this be too simple?

John, Colchester,

Oh gooody that means my Council Tax will be increased to cover this........ Deep joy.....

Mike, MK,

My local council, South Staffs DC, recently gave planning consent for 38 high cost houses in green belt on condition that the developer provided 15 affordable ones. The development has hit the buffers, 6 £500K units built, no affordable ones and the council CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT. What a rip off!!

A.M. Williams, Stafford,

Prices may be falling, but what of the pent-up demand. Material and servicing costs of building sites will not come down. And do not forget the local authority financial plunder on new developments - to fund even more jobsworths. Council house building will be more costly than 'spec'.

Michael, Bridgwater, UK

Only Broon and Bust, who sold Gold at 1/3rd of what it was worth a couple of years later, could use taxpayers money to buy houses now!

R James, Clifton, UK

Oi, I live in a council flat, am a single father, work because I can't get any benefits (my service pension is just above the cut off for benefits so I have no choice but to work). Not everybody on this estate is scum. A lot of them would love to have a nice house and job, but there are no nice jobs

paulc, gloucester UK,

Not on my doorstep please, I haven't scrimped & saved to buy my own property, for next door to become a drug/vice den,frequented by doleites & thieves, keep them in the ghettoes that they only deserve.

Chris, Southampton, UK

I wonder if the rents are going to be set low enough so those on minimum wage can afford to live in them, or are we going to see market rates set such that ordinary folk still cannot afford to put a roof over their heads...

Nanos, Southall, UK

Why are people so insistant on ensuring house prices rise to unsustainable levels? Cheaper housing costs must be far better in the long run. Everyone deserves to be housed in decent, affordable accommodation. And who will qualify for one of these houses? Certainly not a single, lowpaid worker.

Nan, Reading, UK

Why not enhance this window for "Have your Say" comments and restore the proper respect for "The Thunderer" with the inclusion of a spell-checker module

Duncan Tribute, Truro, Cornwall, Great Britain

This is insane, the value of houseare simply overinflated and this is a long time due correction. Gives me the feeling of it doesnt matter how many holes you plug up in a dam if you do not stop the water rising behind it it will overflow and destroy everything in its wake. Lower the water first.

Martin, Bracknell, Berkshire

This government is no less than a joke! So much for 'no more bust and boom' Gordon. It makes me want to give up trying to make the most of my earning potential, what's the point when I could have everything I need handed to me on a plate by the state.... if only I had 5 children! It's rediculous!

Becky, Burnley, UK

Council housing blights too many areas already, it should be abolished. Why should we homeowning taxpayers subsidise generatons of society's spongers. Council estates create ghettoes for the criminal underclass and breed anti-social behaviour.

Graham, Driffield, East Yorkshire

All the idots who want crash dont relise that all the people with big mortgaes will never sell their homes as they will never make enough to cover the diffrence, you wont be buying their homes for cheap they simpley wont be selling them.

MR W Jones, Liverpool, England

'New mortgage rescue would 'help young families on low incomes'
So the graduates who are our future have no hope of buying a house! And those without children or with adult children will support the 'families' on benefits.
They could be coming to live next door to YOU!
When is the election?

sophie smith, london, uk

N.Metcalf, Lincoln, UK makes the real point as far as I am concerned. Most council tennants are good people but a significant percentage are not.

No homeowner will want a council owned property in their street

Pete, NE, UK

I predicted this 3 years ago!!!!!It happened in the last crash! A housing association bought a load of unsold properties on a lovely estate where people had paid a lot of (hard earned) money!!! I'll leave the grizzly rest to your imagination!!!!!!!

l, gwent, uk

is it just me or is this very similair to what happened in the 70's when due to an economic downturn Labour became uber-socialist and destroyed the economy even further? real estate and the City is all this country has left, let the markets correct themselves.

Alex, london, england

Emigrating - just sounds better and better!

Hema, London, UK

I agree that taxpayers' money should not be used to fund a stamp duty 'holiday'. One proposal I saw from BrightSale was for the govn to relax the rules on SIPPs investing in residential property. This could free up £100 billion for housing investment and would not cost the taxpayer a penny.

Julia Aimes, Henley, UK

think it's time to move to the US. same idiocy, but at least the tax rate is lower

vic, london,

1) More claiming housing benefits, money just going to private landlords 2) Why spend money on housing, when unemployment should be main issue in recession?3) What does g'ment want to achieve? 4) I've had enough of council housing people in my nice cul-de-sac. Why buy any longer?

Sunny, Coventry,

Will never happen. The UK govt is broke with record borrowing. The downturn will mean former high tax paying companies and individuals, now experiencing big loses, will not pay taxes for years. Who exactly will lend money to the UK govt for this disaster of a policy?? The UK is down & out.......

KR, Cap Ferrat, FRANCE

Wouldn't it be far better to encourage Councils to BUILD new homes with high standards of economy / insulation?

The claimed shortage of houses cannot have gone away, and far better to improve the country's stock and employ builders than support estate agents to help buy old properties.

MarkS, Leeds,

Oh Yes, Lets open up the door for councils to buy these properties on the cheap, add 35% to the cost and claim it back from the government, sounds like an excellent scam about to happen, where do I sign to get my cut???

I think I'll give up work and join the queue for the housing handouts!

Jon, Coventry, UK

I think you've just used your final nail, Gordon.

The political reaper awaits.

Darren Ward, Manchester, UK

Taxpayer's money being used to speculate in the (declining) house market, which may have the side benefit (!) of helping to keep a few Tristans employed as estate agents? Wonderful.

Cyril, KL, Malaysia

coming to your street soon, single houses bandoned and left to rot by council landlords with undesirable and unrespectful residents who live off us all because of our fears of being labeled non PC by the socialist controllers called New Labour. I thank you GB for another fine mess in the making!

ben, manchester, uk

Good to see Labour moving back to the 70's as fast as possible. Tax and spend, check. High inflation, check. Rising unemployment, check. Sterling collapse, check. Nationalise housing, almost ready. Oh dear, I dont think thats why the middle classes voted Blair in!

Ian, Tokyo, Japan

Oh great. So rather than let first time buyers in with a chance of a cheap deal, the councils are going to snap up all the repos/ unsold houses. Then when prices inevitably continue falling, us taxpayers will be stuck paying of the council's deficit. Brilliant.

E Smith, London,

Yet another tax payer insurance scheme for the banks! Let the market 's correct themselves!

Harry , ravesend, UK

It is now in the interests of New Labour to prolong and deepen any bust.
A sharp correction would be over in time for the Conservatives to preside over recovery.
The Brown/Darling policy is clearly economic scorched earth.
They are so very good at it...

Pat, Coromandel, NZ

Sub-prime arrives in the UK.

manjo, london,

What more power to the Council's when they do not have a clue how to handle what they have to do now. Unexperienced and jobs given to those who are known to existing staff not for their abilities so the Councils carry dead wood being 90%.

ann, enfield, uk

Why is Labour so obsessed with propping up house prices? Let them fall so normal, hard-working people get a chance to buy a home. Leave it alone Brown!

E Smith, London,

This is an excellent idea. Puts a floor in the market .

David Proud, Solihull,

This is a lot harder to achieve than the glib headline seeking of nulabour. Simply suggesting that local authorities buy up houses/flats is ludicrous. Most Councils do not have the infrastrucuture in place to maintain vast numbers of additional properties. Another disaster in the making.

Derek, Hull, Yorkshire

Funny how the government is now ready to use the taxpayers' money to rescue the property market which it was happy to allow to overheat in the first place.

Mira, London, UK

So let's keep potential Labour Voters happy using my money! Just what will they resort to next.

Also consider the poor records of many councils / housing associations at present and the difficulties they have in maintaining their housing stock.

Deb, Reading, UK

Deborah Chowney, Reading, Hampshire

Not everyone can afford to own. It's the idea that everyone should have everything they want even when they can't afford it that is bringing this country to its knees. Once again middle class taxpayers foot the bill - brilliant.

Sarah Lobley, Leeds, United Kingdom

Usual leftie response. Money is tight, so we'll grab more of it from the workers and spend it on other people. Mao Brown doesn't miss a trick, does he? Democracy, what democracy?

KR, Stockport,

In Gordon Brown's world the only people who feature in his thinking are families with children, working or not!. Single people, pensioners, couples without children are just there to foot the bill via taxes whether it be for benefits or mortgage arrears!
Can he buy votes with this lunatic idea! NO

sophie smith, london, uk

Why should hard working tax payers bail out people who should never have purchased massively over priced housing in the first place. The government should let the market correct itself. This government is a joke what about all the people who are unable to buy at the inflated prices. LET PRICES CRASH

Paul Cooper, Coventry,

Great so any working class family will be able to afford to buy a home on the Council scheme but hardworking middle class families will no longer be able to afford home ownership.

Claire , London, UK

How is this going to help? Local councils already have 1000's on waiting lists for council housing, so basically councils buy these properties and fill them with the immigrants/single mothers who take priority when it comes to allocation. Im a first time buyer struggling along, this doesnt help me!

Rob, essex, uk

This is an absolute disgrace.
Why should the taxpayer be asked to bolster a grossly overinflated property market? Local authorities will be taken for a ride when buying unsold property from developers at inflated prices.
I was under the impression that we were living in a free economy.

Allan, Inverness,

You mention Liverpool Council the worst run council in the country. They have thousands of good houses boarded up on some crazey labour goverment scheme of demolish and rebuild, these house could be, at low cost refurbished and sold or rented. There are nearly a million empty house in this state.

Peter, windsor, UK

Here we go again!! Calamity Brown times it wrong again!

SO, he is going to borrow more money early and increase the debt so that they can buy properties now in a market that so many experts agree could carry on dropping for years to come. Always seeking out the anti-bargains. Good old Brown....

chris, prague,

Why would any first time buyer in their right mind want to enter the market now when the housing bubble still has lots of deflating left to do according to historic valuations? Encouraging them into the market looks like a cynical move. Too late for a windfall tax on builders though.

Bernie, Bournemouth, UK

Why can the government always find money to bail out poorly run banks and profligate borrowers? How about giving some of this tax back to the people that earn it?

Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one,

Some of these comments equate council tenant with layout cliches. Plenty have jobs and stable relationships with just the one partner. I grew up on an estate so I should know. It's this kind of generalisation that demoralises people to the point of apathy. The Jeremy Kyle applicants are a minority!

Tess, London,

YAY! It sounds like we're about to start subsidising one of the biggest asset bubbles in history by buying houses which are falling in value by approx 15% a year. Rather than allowing the market to correct to 3x income, we will now have to pay to keep house prices at a level we can't afford - Genius

Rob, Honiton, UK

Phil and Erik - dream on....
This will never happed, and is another nail in the labour coffin. Prices are going one way - down, for a few years at least. Wake up, smell the coffee.

n hed, warwick, uk

Brilliant. We just paid lots of money to live in a nice new estate, then the market crashed, now they plan to buy unsold houses and give them to benefit wielding single mums with 20 kids. Won't be long til the chavs run everything down, and my propertys value further. Thanks Labour, not!

Richard, Bishop Auckland, UK

Great, so a double whammy on tax for taxpayers supporting the needy classes!

A Thorn, London,

Why do we have this obsession with the Housing Market? A house should be to live in and enjoy. Over the last few years we have seen greedy people, fuelled by the media, putting their money into get rich quick schemes. Subsidising the market now is unjustified. Let prices fall to their natural level.

Richard, Lichfield, England

Council houses should always have been interspersed amongst private housing. The vast housing estates of the 50s& 60s, built without libraries, parks, only basic shopping & health facilities are worse areas of deprivation than they were. In contrast - Swedish towns.

Diana, derby,

I agree with Amit. I'm giving up my low paid job to sign on. Then I'm applying for council housing. Then I'll take them up on their offer and buy the property at a discount. I'll still sign on and claim housing benefit so wont pay a lot to the property. Then i'll sell for a profit. Good business..

Michael, London,

I am 100% in favour of social housing, we should abolish right-to-buy and re-employ many construction workers in a major building programme of new council houses on newly allocated land already owned by the public sector.
Buying over-priced private housing now is a waste of public resources.

Fred, Harrogate,

As a hard-working member of the private sector it sickens me that I can't afford my own house and yet the government has the gall to use my taxpayers money to buy houses to give at a cheap rate to people who sit around unemployed or sick all day draining the soul out of the country.

Rob Moore, Chelmsford, UK

YAY for Mr Brown, VOTES for HOUSES!

Rob Bain, Derby,

So, after allowing the flooding of the debt markets causing massive, unjustified and unnecessary growth in the cost of housing in this country Brown, Darling and Flint have now come to the intellectually vacuous conclusion that the way to responsibly kickstart another boom is to fund it with my tax.

Mark, Birmingham, UK

Arguably it is because council houses were sold off that there are now so many people in trouble with mortgages. There are many who would have been council tenants and are now struggling owners. Who is going to pay for the "new" council houses: the ratepayers?

mike gee, bournemouth, uk

Government cashing in on sellers misfortune

Steve Millerband, london, uk

This is more an attempt to prop up falling prices than anything else; if prices revert to the levels they should be Brown and NL will face the wrath of the entire nation and the game will be up for "Prudence".
This also bails out the banks, letting them get cash back on a deprecating asset.

Bob, Sittingbourne, UK

Great. Another act of hatred directed at decent taxpayers from this repulsive government.

John, Buckingham,

So the taxpayer is going to pay insanely high prices for property. Brilliant.

Steve, Wimbledon,

This will effectively put a stop to falling house prices and it wont be long before prices start going up again.

phil, london,

Hooray! Buying now that prices are lower could mean that the councils, for once, turn a profit. The new, cheaply rented, council housing will help those unable to buy and reduce council dependance on B&Bs etc. The extra demand (from the councils) will push prices back up too - helping the rest of us

Erik, Gatwick, UK

Council housing should never have been abolished in first place !!!!!!!!!

ian payne, WALSALL,

Hooray house prices continue to fall making them more affordable for first time buyers. Speculators in the market forced up the price of housing over the years and now they are feeling the pinch. Speaking as a home owner I say long may the price of housing continue to fall to realistic levels.

Kenneth Salmon, Loughborough, Leics.

He'd better get going with a vengeance, the wages are so low for youngsters outside of London that social housing with low rents are the only way they will ever have any independence.

judy, Liverpool, England

Just great - now we create home owners who have no jobs, on benefits and with 5 kids from 5 men/women. What a way to try and win an election. Why not just give everyone 1 mil pounds. That would certainly work!

Glynn, Kingston,

Why artificially inflate prices by helping people who wouldn’t be able to afford to buy houses ordinarily....The reality is house prices in the UK are at least 30% over valued and probably far more. Falling house prices make them more affordable for 1st time buyer mean people can afford to trade up

Barns, Bath,

Sure, throw more money down the drain.

You would think they would learn to stop interfering, stop spending and act responsibly.

But no, too much to hope for.

Jon, Clapham, London,

Next the councils will be in deficit and will tax resident who are working hard (they will likely want to score you on how many hoidays you take each yearand the weight of your refuse bins) and if they can you will be taxed to pay for the pregnant and unemployed Labour votin dead beats.

James , Dubai,

"Alistair Darling and Caroline Flint, the Housing Minister, have been working for three months on measures to invigorate the mortgage market, particularly for first-time buyers, and to cushion those affected by rising repossession rates"

Don't these clowns realise that we haven't GOT 3 months ?

Trevor, Ipswich, UK

The best way to help first time buyers is a reduction in price. Let the market crash and we will by the bits left out of it . As for the estate agents...who cares?! For the last few years they have been so busy salling overpriced property to the super rich without giving us a min of their attention.

Fabio C, London, UK

Those who have chosen and paid more to live in private housing estates could now find themselves living next door to council tenants. This cynical proposal using tax payers money to bail out defaulters will surely decrease Labour's re-election chances even more.

N.Metcalf, Lincoln, UK

im going on benefits, then i can buy my house cheap then sell it then get another council house then buy it again - this is my new proffesion.

amit hindocha, birmingham, uk

I support this idea. Two cautions: 1. Worker mobility needs to be built into the plans. The days of workers stuck in the same council home for life should be over. 2. The housing market needs to fall to realistic levels. Public funds must not be used to prop up a grossly inflated market..

Paul, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

No, no, no! Let the market crash - stop meddling. A serious crash is needed to bring prices back to the long term mean of 3 x salary levels.

John, Manchester, UK

Who needs more council houses for the lay abouts ! Better to create jobs so people can work to pay there mortgages .

tony, melbourne, australia