Lunchtime news May 24

Should affordable housing be Gordon Brown’s first priority? Yes, say four of the six Labour deputy leader candidates in the Mirror. Yes, along with other things, say the other two.

The politics of housing is complicated but the solution is simple – build more homes – says Steve Richards in the Independent.

Housing organisations are keeping up the lobbying pressure. London needs a 50% increase in funding for affordable homes, says London Councils. More funding is needed for shared ownership as it moves from being a niche product to the norm, says the National Housing Federation. And the next four years are ‘make or break’ in Scotland, says Shelter Scotland, after new figures showing a 10% rise in the number of people on waiting and transfer lists.

Communities secretary Ruth Kelly will be sacked over the HIPs fiasco when Gordon Brown becomes prime minister, says The Sun, but moved to another department, according to The Times.

Estate agents say homeowners will evade plans to keep HIPs for four-bed homes by marketing them as three bedrooms with a study, reports the Telegraph.

The papers make better reading for Harry Hallowes: The Irish tramp has been awarded squatters’ rights to land worth millions in Highgate, north London, after living in a shack for 20 years.

But members of a village bowls team are trying the same thing to stop new homes being built on their bowling green in Norfolk, reports The Times.

Speculation is mounting about a housing market crash in Ireland, reports The Business, with new figures showing that 40% of homes built in the last four years are empty.