Orders for homes slump at end of 2008

Demand for orders of public and housing association homes slumped 20 per cent in the last three months of 2008 according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Overall for 2008, demand fell 15 per cent in year on year figures. Orders for private housing suffered worst, with demand down 55 per cent from the same period in 2007. Critics of the government are using the figures to argue that now was an ‘historic opportunity’ to address the social housing crisis.