Brown unveils housing market support plan

With consumer confidence crumbling in the face of the credit crunch and rocketing energy bills, his Labour Party is some 20 points behind the Conservatives and on that showing would easily lose the next general election.

House prices in Britain are falling and home repossession orders in England and Wales have risen to their highest level since the housing market crash of the early 1990s.

The government said the housing package would help vulnerable families struggling with mortgage payments avoid losing their homes and bring forward funding for new social housing from existing budgets.

The government and property developers also plan to offer five-year interest-free loans for some first-time buyers - both to help people move into affordable homes and support the house building industry.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said the package was aimed at "people who just need that little bit of extra help to keep them afloat."

"I think it's the responsibility of government ... to do what we can to help the decent people who want to stay in their homes," she told GMTV television.

A government source said those measures would cost about 1 billion pounds.

LEADERSHIP SPECULATION

Brown's political fightback comes after a summer which kicked off with speculation he could soon be ousted as Labour leader and ended with data showing the British economy failed to expand in the second quarter of 2008.