As Gordon Brown marks his first year as Prime Minister, the National Housing Federation (NHF) has commented on his record on affordable housing - a key priority of his premiership.

David Orr, Chief Executive of the Federation, said: "Gordon Brown should be warmly applauded for setting, very early on, the ambitious target of building 3m new homes by 2020. This was a decision that put affordable housing centre stage.

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"But since then, market conditions have dramatically changed and Mr Brown's government now needs to work with us to ensure households at risk of repossession are protected, and affordable housing continues to be delivered in the right numbers.

"Mr Brown's ministers should support housing associations in developing mortgage rescue schemes that prevent households from losing their homes, and they should help associations buy unmarketable homes from private developers.

"We're still committed to delivering high quality affordable housing in this difficult market, and we need government support to achieve this."

(CD/JM)