House building numbers drop dramatically

Orders for private homes suffered their greatest slump in more than 50 years, figures from the Office of National Statistics show. The number of orders has dropped 43 per cent in 2008, with the decline accelerating in the final three months of the year to a 57 per cent fall from the same period last year. The data showed that public and housing association orders have also dropped by 28 per cent in year on year figures.