GOVT FAILS ON HOUSING

Housing completions are at their lowest level since the 1920s.

Annual housing starts in the 12 months to December 2012 were down 10.6% on the year before. And the proportion of major planning applications decided within the government target of 13 weeks had fallen to 57% from 60% the year before.

The CBI has called for “50,000 new affordable homes to be built”.

The Treasury Select Committee has warned that the Government’s Help to Buy scheme is “very much work in progress”, which may have “a number of unintended consequences”.