§ Mr. KilfoyleTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria were set governing the allocation of pilot projects to given areas under the Housing Market Renewal Fund initiative. [83875]
§ Mr. McNultyThe areas invited to establish low demand pathfinder projects were identified in two ways. First, we analysed data from the statistical returns compiled by local authorities as part of the Housing Investment Programme and, where available, local housing market studies undertaken by the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (Birmingham University). Second, we looked at the scale of the low demand problem across housing markets, rather than individual local authorities. We sought to identify the most acute problems of low demand in terms of scale and intensity of the problem.