The Government has made a commitment to build 3 million homes by 2020. The Housing Minister Caroline Flint has recently announced new measures to combat the credit crunch so that the Government can continue on with its commitment to provide affordable housing.

The Government has allocated another £270 million through the Housing Corporation to provide an additional 3,500 homes for social rent, and 1,500 shared ownership homes over the next three years. The Government has also set aside £9 million for debt advice and free legal advice for households that risk repossession.

This new allocation of money will help drive forward the Government's goal of providing an additional 180,000 homes over the period. Another new measure released by Minister Flint is the creation of a new national clearing house. This will aide home builders who want to sell their unsold stock for affordable housing.

The new national clearing house will have increased flexibility where affordable housing providers will be able to bid for funding from the Government's £8.4 billion affordable housing programme at anytime. This flexibility will enable the Housing Corporation to increase the number of approvals, which will provide housing for those who desperately need it while also supporting the developers as well.

The funding flexibility will also allow the Housing Corporation to offer more of the payment to housing associations and developers which will deliver affordable and social housing along with stimulating the housing market.

With this added flexibility I assure you that the ministers will still be bound by the strict rules to ensure that the bidding process is fair which will in turn create a housing system that is also fair. The Government has taken immediate action on this issue and has reassured MPs that they remain committed to providing affordable housing.

I can assure you that I will keep working with ministers to ensure people in Swindon and throughout the UK will have access to affordable housing. I will keep you updated on any more progress the Government has made on its goal.