Housing affordability shows no sign of dropping off the political radar as Gordon Brown has pledged to tackle the issues as he prepares to take over from Tony Blair this month. During his uncontested leadership campaign, the prime minister-to-be announced plans to oversee the development of a number of “eco-towns”on government-owned sites, and to increase social and private sector housebuilding. ”It is very, very clear that young couples are finding it difficult to buy their first home,”he said. “There is a housing problem and we’ve got to deal with it and I’m going to set out the measures by which we will begin to solve the problem.”