Rate of housebuilding has halved in the past year

The Government pledged to fight on to meet housebuilding targets yesterday, despite a fall in new starts to a record low. Seasonally adjusted housebuilding starts fell by a third in the three months to September, compared with the quarter to June. Compared with a year earlier, they almost halved.

"This is the lowest level of starts observed in the quarterly series, which goes back to 1980," the Department of Communities and Local Government said. The figures come as a blow to the Government, which is trying to increase the number of net additional homes built every year to 240,000 by 2016. The 22,000 homes started in England in the three months to September leave the reality far short.

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The Housing Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said: "We have been clear about the scale of the challenge of our house building targets in the current economic conditions, but now is not the time to row back on our long-term ambitions. We need to be ready for when the recovery comes to press on with our programme to meet long-term demand for housing from first-time buyers, families on waiting lists and those living in overcrowded homes."

Meanwhile the Council of Mortgage Lenders said that gross mortgage lending fell 44 per cent in October compared with a year earlier.