RICS laments 'disastrous' house building figures

New housing starts are likely to be little more than 100,000, with 2009 looking even bleaker, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has warned.

The level is far lower that the 240,000 homes that the government originally hoped would be delivered every year by 2016.

RICS policy officer James Rowlands warned that such a low level of house building created a danger of a "serious mismatch" between housing demand and supply, which could lead to further problems of affordability when the market recovers.

Rowlands' comments came on the back of what he called "disastrous" house building figures from Communities and Local Government (CLG).

CLG reported that housing starts in England fell to 22,000 for the quarter to September 2008, down 33% on the previous quarter and 48% on the same period in the previous year.

Annual housing starts totalled 126,700 in the 12 months to September 2008, down by 26% on the previous year.

Annual housing completions in England stood at 154,300 for the 12 months to September 2008, down by 9% compared with the 12 months to September 2007.