A NEW scheme to build almost 9,000 homes in South Yorkshire could take up to a decade to get off the ground - because of the credit crunch.
Council chiefs in South Yorkshire were told they will receive a share of £100m of government cash to help build the properties.
But today housing minister Caroline Flint admitted the building industry slump meant it could take between five and 10
years for the mass house building plans to get underway.
The Don Valley MP said the plans were "challenging" and suggested the project may have to wait until the market "picks up".
The admission came as she revealed Doncaster, Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley have been named as "growth point" areas.
And the authorities have been given £250,000 to draw up plans for yet another 8,500 homes - on top of the existing scheme.
The councils will be given access to a £100m cash pot to pay for roads, schools, hospitals and other facilities to support the development.
In addition there are plans for a 5,000 home eco-town development at Rossington near Doncaster.
Ms Flint said she was "realistic" and "pragmatic" about the current difficulties faced by the construction industry.
She said: "The reality is that these growth points but also the eco-towns are long term. Building doesn't happen in a short space of time.
"As housing minister I have gone through some case studies of housing developments that have sometimes taken 15 years to go from an idea to houses actually being built.
"We have to deal with the situation we are in at the moment.
"This is about planning over not just the next couple of years but we are talking about five years, ten years down the road.
"If you only focus on today and not long term, then, when the market picks up, it will make it much harder to reach the sort of house numbers we want."
Other measures outlined by Ms Flint included a "rent first, buy later" scheme to help first-time buyers to get on to the property ladder.
Households earning less than £60,000 will be able to rent a new home at a discounted rate for two to three years with an option to buy a part of it once they have saved enough for a deposit.
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