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A major slump in the house-building industry has hit the capital with the number of new private properties at an all-time low, new figures show today.
Just 568 new private homes were started between February and April as the credit crunch continued to bite. The figure is less than a quarter of the number built in the same period of 2008, according to the National House Building Council (NHBC).
The shocking figures released today show just 170 homes were started in both February and March - the lowest on record. Activity increased slightly in April, when 228 new private homes were built. But in the same month last year the number of new private properties was significantly healthier at 1,039.
The figures for the rest of the South East show that only 1,671 new private homes were started in the region in the first quarter of 2009, down from 3,933 in the same period of 2008.
The low figures are the result of the continuing lack of mortgage availability and buyers' expectations that prices will come down further before they commit to buying.
The figures are slightly up on the previous seven months but experts warned this was due to seasonal variations rather than the start of a recovery.
NHBC Chief Executive Imtiaz Farookhi said: “There has been a small increase in house-building activity, following seven successive quarters of decline. However, our experience tells us this may be more indicative of seasonal trends rather than a recovery at this stage.
"Nonetheless it holds out the hope, backed up by anecdotal evidence from builders that the market has stabilised, albeit at perilously low levels. The next couple of quarters will be key in determining whether or not this stabilisation is sustainable and will in turn lead to a partial recovery in volumes, even in the depths of the worst recession since the war.”
There has also been a slump in construction of social housing.
The record low figures appear to cast doubt on the ability of Boris Johnson to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over the next three years.
Between February and April 2009, only 795 homes were started by housing associations in London, sharply down from 2,443 in 2008.
The Mayor's recently published housing strategy lists the names of 21 boroughs which have agreed to increase their affordable' targets to a total of 23,154.
A further 12 boroughs are still in talks with the GLA to increase their targets, which currently total 17,105.
Figures showing “affordable housing” targets for May 2011
Barking and Dagenham 1,785
Barnet 2,269
Bexley 566
Brent 1,374
Camden 1,000
City of London 50
Croydon 1,803
Enfield 648
Greenwich 1,487
Hackney 1,779
Hammersmith and Fulham 967
Haringey 1,115
Harrow 656
Hillingdon 598
Hounslow 730
Islington 1,902
Kingston upon Thames 420
Kensington and Chelsea 270
Lambeth 1,803
Lewisham 1,395
Merton 315
Richmond upon Thames 398
Southwark 2,453
Sutton 660
Tower Hamlets 5,064
Waltham Forest 1,096
Wandsworth 1,221
Westminster 925
Reader views (3)
Bet they get lower before year end.
- Mike, London England, 26/05/2009 11:55
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Keep the house building low; and push up the prices of the rest higher still.
The Government cannot afford cheap houses for everyone.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 26/05/2009 11:49
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Probably driven by all those mythical green shoots that some fools keep mentioning.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, 26/05/2009 08:43
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