A MULTI-million pound housing demolition scheme heading for the Tees Valley lacks "vision", a spending watchdog said today.

The Audit Commission report criticises the 'Pathfinder' projects in the North for failing to build the foundations for long-term success.

It says many of the schemes, which are designed to breathe new life into areas where the housing market is close to collapse, are not collecting the correct data.

And it warns that local councils are pushing their own priorities for revamping poor housing, rather than tackling the underlying reasons for falling house prices.

The 'Pathfinder' project is to be extended to the Tees Valley.

Furthermore, the Northern Way strategy group has suggested up to 400,000 homes might have to be bulldozed in eight "city-regions", including in the Tees Valley.

Roy Irwin, the commission's chief inspector for housing, said: "The Pathfinders must raise their game if they are to create communities that people want to live in."

A University of Birmingham report found there were 59,000 derelict and abandoned homes in the Tees Valley - more than in Newcastle and Gateshead.