Prime minister Gordon Brown has promised that he will take action to tackle the growing housing crisis in Britain and unveiled plans for more affordable homes.

Placing housing at the top of his agenda, the new premier said this week that three million new homes would be built in Britain between now and 2020.

Unveiling a series of 23 bills that will form the centrepiece of the government's legislative programme for the next parliamentary session, Mr Brown unveiled a 20 per cent increase in the current UK house building programme to 240,000 new homes a year.

Up to £10 billion of public money will now be set aside for social housing under the proposals, included in the new housing and regeneration bill and a new homes agency will manage the sale or rent of affordable housing on mixed-tenure estates.

The proposals also include plans for the development of new 'Eco-towns', a new planning reform bill to speed up and simplify planning procedures and plans to free up unused public and brownfield land for new housing.

In a statement to the House of Commons, the former chancellor said: "Putting affordable housing within the reach of not just the few, but the many, is vital both to meeting individual aspirations and to securing a better future for the country."