The government is concentrating on housing, homelessness and truancy but it acknowledges that the problem goes rather deeper than that.

ECONOMIST: Tony Blair��s big idea

Nikki Cole from Community Housing Cymru said that national policies for affordable housing are clear but there was a problem with implementation on the ground.

BBC: Sustainability committee

Housing where Gordon has accepted there's a real problem about affordable housing and we're now striking out on that.

BBC: Jack Straw MP. photo courtesy Jeff Overs

All we need to do is build on another 2-3% of land and we'll have solved a housing problem.

BBC: Open land can solve housing shortage, says minister

Your point on VAT anomalies is well made, but disguises a larger structural problem of private investment in council housing renewal.

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Although the problem of people sleeping rough on the streets may be easing, the social pathologies of big public housing estates remain entrenched.

ECONOMIST: Tony Blair��s big idea

And it is probably better to err on the side of overstating the problem than understating it because there is growing concern about the extent to which the housing market can recover from the subprime crisis.

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