The latest housebuilding figures have provoked a heated exchange between the government and the House Builders' Federation as to who is responsible for the lack of homes being built.
The figures for August continued the downward trend in overall starts and completions that has prevailed for much of the year. Social housing figures were particularly poor, with starts falling 15% over the past three months.

HBF spokesman Pierre Williams, said this was conclusive proof that the government was not moving quickly enough to address the problem.

He said: "Irrespective of whether you look at the public or the private sector, the figure is far from rosy.

"Last year total completions amounted to two-thirds of what was needed.

"These figures reveal that the crisis in housing undersupply has worsened and that government promises need to be put into firm action sooner rather than later," he added.

A spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister denied that the government was failing to act quickly enough.

He also admitted that the government was uncertain that the figures it had for social housebuilding were correct.

He said: "We would like to see a big increase in social housing building and await the builders delivering.

"If they don't want to build, what can we do?"

The spokesman added that big events in the summer such as the World Cup and the Queen's Golden Jubilee caused a dramatic fall in housebuilding.

He said that if figures for June were discounted, there was actually an increase in the last three months.

Source

Housing Today