According to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the number of new homes being built in the UK has slumped by 33 percent in the past quarter. The figure was 48 percent down from the same period in 2007, a record low.

The plunge in the number of houses being built by private developers was even more severe – 55 percent down from the previous year. In sharp contrast, a 20-percent increase was registered during the same period in the number of properties being built by registered social landlords.

According to DCLG, the number of new houses being built in this country is now less than half the figure recorded during the first quarter of 2006, when building activities peaked.

However, the good news is that London Mayor Boris Johnson recently unveiled a £5 billion plan to build 50,000 affordable homes in the capital, in an attempt to revitalise the housing market. The plan aims to enable middle-income families to get hold on reasonably priced properties.

According to Mr Johnson, the goal of the plan is to “put London on a strong footing for the eventual upturn in the housing market????. The plan will inject public money into stalled housing developments, in exchange of the provision of inexpensive homes. The government also intends to purchase unsold new properties and make them affordable.

Mr Johnson’s government plans to spend a further £60 million on refurbishing long-term empty houses and reusing them as residential properties.