John Prescott will today publish a £15 billion plan to provide an extra 200,000 homes in the south east of England and regenerate abandoned housing in the north

The deputy prime minister's communities plan will show how the government will fund extra facilities such as roads, schools and hospitals needed in four target areas: Ashford, Stansted and the M11 corridor, Milton Keynes and the Thames Gateway.

Some £1.5 billion will be reserved for "areas of abandonment" in the north west and north east, where councils are demolishing affordable homes because of a lack of demand.