The prediction by The Centre of Economic and Business Research has taken into consideration low interest rates, cheap mortgages and short property supply. If this calculation is correct house prices could rise by almost 20% over the next three years.

Gareth Robinson, CEO of SmartShare said: "This is great news for the affordable homes market. There are many people aspiring to get onto the property ladder and these latest figures show there is a renewed confidence."

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Despite the recession, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) has announced that the housing association sector’s overall assets has risen by 11% to £94.6 billion.

The operating surplus of the sector has increased by £68 million to £1.6 billion and turnover increased by £1.5 billion (the rise is partly due to changes in accounting rules which impact on low cost home ownership).

Other highlights of the 2009 accounts include:
• Net book value of housing property increased by £6 billion (12%), showing continued growth in difficult market conditions
• Social housing homes increased by 71,282 (2008 increase: 138,922) a significant reduction on the previous year
• £2.3 billion invested in existing stock, helping to deliver the Decent Homes Standards for tenants
• Long term loans increased by £5 billion (14%) to £39 billion, demonstrating that the sector is able to attract new funding

According to the Halifax building society house prices rose 1.1% in March 2010.

Other house price indices from Nationwide and Hometrack have also suggested prices rose in March, following a decline in the market in February.

Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis said ‘there are signs that increasing supply is beginning to balance demand, which should help contain price rises.’

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The April budget brings good news for first time buyers purchasing a property under £250k as they are no longer required to pay stamp duty.

This will save some first time buyers up to £2,500 and will take effect immediately - the stamp duty holiday will last for two years.

The Chancellor Alistair Darling said: "The housing market has now stabilised and has begun a slow recovery. But many first time buyers, particularly those without large deposits, still find it hard to get a mortgage. I want to help them, but do so in a way that is properly funded."

In order to fund the stamp duty abolishment, buyers purchasing homes costing £1m or more will have to pay 5% in the tax duty - a minimum of £50,000 in tax. This new policy will come into force next April.

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The Homes and Communities Agency has announced nearly £13m will be made available to provide more than 1000 new and affordable homes across the South West.

The 11 key sites include Gloucester, Torquay, Yeovil and Oakhampton creating thousands of jobs and apprenticeships within the construction industry.

Housing Minister John Healey said: 'We’re putting the weight of Government investment into building much-needed affordable homes, keeping people in work and giving young people a chance of apprenticeships.

'That’s why today I’m allocating £83 million to get 87 stalled developments across the country up and running again, creating 1,700 jobs and giving more than 2,200 first-time buyers the chance to take an affordable step onto the property ladder.

'In this recession, the Government has not stepped back and left the homes and jobs we need to the market. We’re using public funding to keep Britain building through the downturn.'

The Homes and Communities Agency has confirmed that a £3m cash injection will be made available to help develop two housing sites in Leicester.

Plans for 42 affordable homes at land north of Manor Farm in Hamilton and 21 homes at Bendbow Rise in Braunstone are being drawn up in an effort to meet the demand for affordable homes and jobs.

Margaret Allen, regional director of the HCA East Midlands, said: 'This investment could not happen without the close working and strong commitment of all parties to get development moving, which would otherwise have been unviable in this market. These high quality schemes will help meet the need for more affordable homes and more local job opportunities in Leicester, while providing a more attractive prospect for the private developer market once the sites are underway.'

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The National Housing Trust (NHT) has announced that ten councils have confirmed an interest in joining forces with developers to build and let at least 1000 affordable houses in areas of Scotland where many people are unable to buy or rent at market prices.

The project is expected to lever in about £130m of extra housing investment and the Scottish government will underwrite loans. The properties will be ‘let’ to tenants for between five and ten years - the fact that the rent is short-term differentiates the scheme from most forms of social housing.

Alex Neil Housing Minister said: "Traditional methods of supplying housing need to change because of the scale of the new economic and financial challenges we all face. Scotland is spearheading the drive in the UK for alternative sources of funding and innovative housing delivery models. The NHT breaks new ground and has potential to significantly increase the supply of affordable homes in many parts of the country."

The Government has committed to helping low paid workers by introducing a new home-finding scheme where a resident with the offer of work outside their local area will be given help to find affordable accommodation to their new job. The scheme will begin in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and if deemed successful it will be rolled out throughout the country.

Housing Minister John Healey has also outlined plans to give councils and housing associations a greater role in helping tenants in low paid jobs, by holding financial health checks to help keep them out of debt and ensure they receive the tax breaks and other Government support they are entitled to, and by offering advice about training opportunities to help them in better paid work. The government is to make £1.2 million available next year for councils and housing associations to run test schemes in up to 15 areas across the country.

Survey results from Best Executive have given Luminous and New Charter Housing Trust Group the top three star rating in the 2010 best companies to work for in the UK.

Among the 733 companies assessed sixty social housing organisations have been rated along with several housing associations who have appeared in the new ‘ones to watch’ category.

Ian Munro, chief executive of Manchester-based New Charter, said he was ‘thrilled’ to get the three-star rating.

‘We’ve worked hard to be a good employer as well as a great landlord. I believe a well trained and happy workforce is also a high performer,’ he said.

The survey of 276,000 people also found nine out of 10 employees in top companies say their manager cares about their job satisfaction, and 89 percent said their manager motivates them to perform their best.

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A combination of rising house prices and the recession has crushed the prospect of many young people getting onto the property ladder for the foreseeable future.

For those already living at home it is inevitable that they will stay for a longer period of time putting the burden on their parents to support them whilst they save their earnings for a deposit. This is substantiated by a survey released by housing charity Shelter this week who reports more than one in five young people are still living with their parents and around 22% of 18 – 34 year olds still live in the family home with 45% claiming they do so because they cannot afford to move out due to high costs.