Housing starts 'down 48%'

New statistics have revealed that the number of housing starts in the September quarter is down by almost half, compared to last year.

There were approximately 22,200 seasonally adjusted housing starts in England during the quarter, which represents a 48 per cent decline on the number of starts during the corresponding period of 2007, according to figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG)

The number of starts is also down 33 per cent on the previous quarter and the lack of housing developments could see people consider buying their own plot to embark on a self build.

England's annual housing completions totalled 154,300 in the year leading up to September 2008, which is nine per cent down compared to 12 months to September 2007.

Commenting on these figures, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors suggests this decline in housebuilding levels makes Gordon Brown's target of building 240,000 homes per year by 2016 look "even more unrealistic".