On July 16, the government announced a series of further measures to help ease the current housing market turbulence. Its document – Facing the housing challenge: action today, innovation for tomorrow – also reported on progress made since 2007’s housing green paper. The measures included the following. <br><br>A new scheme to help first time buyers access affordable housing by allowing them to rent a home and purchase it later, on the condition that the household earns £60,000 a year or less.<br><br>Progression of the first four local housing companies in Barking and Dagenham, Newcastle, Nottingham and Manchester. The new public-private partnerships will see councils providing land to a developer whilst still retaining control over how it is used. The developer/private sector partner will provide the equivalent investment of skills and homes.<br><br>Allocation of the first tranche of £510 million as part of the housing and planning delivery grant to councils working to bring land forward for development. The grant is also aimed to help create more homes and give greater certainty to the industry that viable land will be available when the market improves. <br><br>Confirmation that more funds will be available, beyond the £200 million already in place, for RSLs to buy …