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Osborne To Unveil Housing Plan Amid £20bn Cuts

George Osborne has vowed to use his spending review to launch a housebuilding drive to deal with "a crisis of home ownership".

The Chancellor will announce plans to build 400,000 new homes in England, claiming it will be the "biggest affordable house building programme since the 1970s".

:: Spending Review: What You Need To Know

In his Autumn Statement in the Commons, he will say: "In the end, spending reviews like this come down to choices about what your priorities are. And I am clear: in this spending review, we choose housing. Above all, we choose homes that people can buy.

"For there is a crisis of home ownership in our country."

:: Welfare Cap Breach Likely

The housing blueprint was foreshadowed by the Prime Minister in his Tory conference speech when he spoke of turning "generation rent into generation buy".

Many of his announcements, which follow a slump in house building in the past five years, have been trailed by the Chancellor before.

But the Autumn Statement and Spending Review will also detail some of the deepest cuts to public spending in years.

Some area are protected - these include health, schools, defence and international aid.

:: Spending Review Explained In Five Charts

But the Chancellor has said he is looking to make £20bn cuts from spending and £12bn from welfare.

Police chiefs in England and Wales are bracing for cuts of up to 25% and have warned the attacks in Paris should force the Chancellor to think again.

Other areas where cuts are expected to hit include mental health and disability services, and programmes for people with drug and alcohol addiction as well as transport, environment and prisons.

It all comes as Mr Osborne aims to meet his commitment to balance the nation's books in five years.

:: Watch a special programme on the Chancellor's Spending Review and Autumn Statement from 11am on Sky News.