This paper examines the operation of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder Programme in England over the period 2002–10. The programme aimed to address high vacancy rates and low house prices in inner-city and declining industrial areas of northern and Midlands cities. The programme achieved some success in generating new housing supply in areas where private developers had previously been reluctant to invest, but had only limited impacts on high vacancy rates. House prices rose sharply in the programme areas, but also in similar areas outside the scope of the programme, driven by wider market-led pressures, including increased demand arising from international in-migration and a boom in speculative investment. With a change in government in 2010, the programme was abruptly wound up and the future of the programme areas is uncertain.
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