It was reported that there were an estimated 22,200 seasonally adjusted housing starts in England in the September quarter 2008, down 33 per cent on the previous quarter and 48 per cent lower than the September quarter 2007.
Private enterprise housing starts (non-seasonally adjusted) were 55 per cent lower than the September quarter 2007. In contrast, housing starts by Registered Social Landlords (non-seasonally adjusted) have risen 20 per cent over the same period.
Annual housing starts figures for England continued to decline. They totalled 126,700 in the 12 months to September 2008, down by 26 per cent compared with the 12 months to September 2007 and 31 per cent below their 2005-06 peak.
Housing completions in England fell by 10 per cent from the previous quarter to an estimated 33,300 (seasonally adjusted) in the September quarter 2008. Compared with the September quarter 2007, completions were down by 18 per cent. Quarterly completions exceeded starts for the fourth quarter in a row.
Annual housing completions in England totalled 154,300 in the 12 months to September 2008, down by 9 per cent compared with the 12 months to September 2007. Regionally only the South East is showing a continuing increase in the number of completions.
RICS commented: "Today's disastrous figures show the serious impact the economic downturn is having on the housebuilding industry. New starts are likely to amount to little more than than 100,000 homes over the whole of this year, with the prospect for 2009 looking even bleaker. This decline in housebuilding levels makes the Government's target of building 240,000 homes per year by 2016 look even more unrealistic. Unless more homes are built there is a real danger of a serious mismatch between demand and supply which could lead to renewed problems of affordability when the market recovers."
