The Audit Commission has questioned the need for a £1.2 billion programme to tackle abandoned housing in the north. The commission is concerned about the approach of the nine Pathfinder projects in the north and midlands where 400,000 homes may be demolished over the next 15 years under the Market Renewal Initiative. A report by the commission points out that despite a “substantial gap” between average regional house prices and Pathfinder areas, prices in the north have been rising faster than in the south. The report also questioned the use of market renewal money to “facelift” council and housing association homes saying that these projects would have been “funded from their existing resources if budgets had allowed.”