City of Edinburgh Council has drawn up plans to help combat the current economic crisis by buying up unsold homes from developers, which it will then rent out to tenants.

The scheme is part of an ‘Economic resilience action plan' drawn up by the director of city development.

Dave Anderson, aimed at addressing major challenges facing the financial services, property and tourism industries in the city region.

Council leader, Jenny Dawe, said it was a ‘robust response to the new world we are in'. The council is to lobby the Scottish Government for the capital to be given greater priority in the national housing investment programme.

Other schemes include plans to work with housing association partners to establish a public sector- controlled housing land bank for the area by acquiring suitable sites from local landowners.

Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive designate of the Homes and Communities Agency, has already called for councils to work more closely with housing associations and the private sector to support the homes market, and Manchester City Council is considering taking a role in the local mortgage market.

Edinburgh's economic resilience plans also examines ways the city council supports employment levels within theconstruction agency by setting up a local recruitment agency to help redundant trade or unskilled staff into local authority or other public service work.

The plan has already won broad support from the full city council, and councillors have agreed to set up a cross-party working group to examine the economic challenges facing the capital.

Councillors will consider plans to set up rapid deployment teams to promote training opportunities, improve support for small and medium-sized businesses, and launch training bursaries to reduce key skill shortages. They have also backed a series of measures to help combat inflation and achieve savings of at least 10% in the council's fuel, energy and food costs with a range of schemes from improved insulation and the replacement of inefficient boilers to waste reduction and promoting greater use of public transport.