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Gordon Brown announced plans to tackle Britain's chronic shortage of affordable housing today with a pledge to build three million new homes by 2020.

In an unprecedented move designed to maintain the momentum of his first two weeks in office, the Prime Minister broke with tradition and revealed most of the Bills that the Queen would normally announce at the State Opening of Parliament in the autumn.

Of the 23 Bills and draft Bills announced today, three were put forward in a bid to tackle the affordable homes crisis.

The Prime Minister pledged that moves would be put in place to build the promised three million new homes - more than a quarter of a million more than previously planned - by 13 years’ time. The Government would make this possible by releasing 550 publicly-owned brownfield sites owned by arms of central Government such as the Ministry of Defence and the NHS, he added.

In a second move on homes, Mr Brown promised a Housing Bill to create an agency charged with delivering more social housing, bringing public land back into use for house-building, and supporting regeneration.

In addition, a Planning Bill would be put in place to speed up the planning system, which has been criticised for being too slow.

And in a bid to ease the mortgage repayment crisis caused by rising interest rates, the Prime Minister said that the Government would consult on creating a new regime for "covered bonds" to help mortgage lenders finance more affordable 20 to 25-year fixed-rate mortgages.

"Putting affordable housing within the reach not just of the few but the many is vital both to meeting individual aspirations and a better future for our country," the Prime Minister told the Commons.

One of Mr Brown's most eye-catching pledges was the announcement of an Educational Opportunity Bill, which would mean that all young people would have to stay in education or training until the age of 18. The moves make concrete pledges made by Alan Johnson when he was Education Secretary in the Blair Government.

Mr Brown also pledged to consult on new anti-terrorism proposals, to ensure the best possible chance of suspects being prosecuted. "The Home Secretary plans to consult, and we are seeking an all party consensus, on new measures to ensure successful prosecutions against terrorist suspects," he said.

He said he would also consider the case for an extension of the 28-day limit on pre-charge detention for terrorism suspects, and on the use of intercept evidence in court.

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