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Councils could help housing crisis

Councils could have a major role to play in rescuing the ailing British housing market, according to the Council and Dagenham MP Jon Cruddas.

The Council and MP are calling on the Government to give them the freedom to buy private homes on a massive scale and put them back into public ownership.

The call comes after this week's announcement by Hazel Blears that councils could be allowed to buy repossessed private homes.

But according to the Council and the MP, the plans don't go far enough.

Councillor Liam Smith, Barking and Dagenham's Executive Member for Housing, says:

"For us, councils need to be stepping in a long time before its residents can't pay their mortgage, and looking instead at ways to reduce the housing boom and bust in their area,"

Tuesday 2 September 2008.