Shelter is worried resources will be diverted from those in need

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is tipped to include the idea when he unveils a new five-year plan on Monday.

The plan is also expected to flesh out new help for first time buyers, including building starter homes on surplus government land.

Charity Shelter is worried those most in need are not being given priority.

Ownership attitude

Labour election co-ordinator Alan Milburn used a speech this week to warn his party that it had lost public support in the 1970s by failing to respond to those aspiring to home ownership.

He told the Fabian Society: "A home is the biggest asset most people will ever own. Given a choice, most people would choose to buy, not rent."

Mr Milburn said more social housing was needed while homelessness was tackled.

But it was wrong to think the only future for those who did not own a home was social housing.

Instead, increasing home ownership had to be an explicit government aim, he argued.

His words are seen as heralding a new version of the Right to Buy scheme which has allowed council tenants to buy their homes.

A similar scheme looks likely to be offered to housing association tenants - a pledge already part of Conservative proposals.

Novice buyers

Mr Prescott is thought to have initially resisted the idea before relenting.

House prices in London and the south-east are seen as a particular problem for young people trying to get onto the housing ladder, even though the market has cooled in recent months.

Mr Prescott unveiled plans last year for using surplus homes to build about 10,000 starter homes, available to first time buyers for about �60,000.

He may also propose cutting mortgages for first time buyers by letting them purchase part of a home through new share equity schemes with housing associations.

Plans to tackle the number of vacant properties, particularly in towns in northern England, will also form part of the package.

Shelter's Ben Jackson said significant amounts of rented housing were needed.

He told BBC Radio 4's World At One the "priority" had to be dealing with those "in greatest housing need".

Regional shift

Mr Jackson stressed the number of homeless people living in temporary accommodation had passed 100,000 for the first time last month.

Right to Buy as used so far had meant houses sold to tenants were lost to the social housing pool and could not be reallocated to those in need.

Former Labour minister Michael Meacher said the symptoms of housing problems had to be tackled through a regional policy to spread economic activity away from the South East.

That objective was not incompatible with finding ways of increasing the benefits of home ownership, he said.