The decline in private and public housing construction activity is starkly shown in the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Private housing new orders fell 57.5% in the quarter to December 2008, compared with a year ago – the largest quarterly fall since new orders figures were first published for private housing in 1983.
Public housing activity dropped 58.7% in December, the biggest monthly drop since August 1997.
Commercial new orders declined by 41.4.% during the fourth quarter.
“The construction industry was hoping that increased spending for public housing would begin to come through to offset the sharp fall in private sector housing, in line with recent government announcements,” said Noble Francis, Construction Products Association economics director.
“Sadly, the ONS figures indicate this is unlikely to occur in the near future, even though the industry is crying out for positive government action and could deliver this desperately needed housing in a relatively short time frame.”
