Lowest UK Housing Starts Since 2009 Pose Test for Labour
- Developers slash house projects after interest rates surge
- Labour has promised to build 1.5 million homes in five years
The number of new homes starting construction in the year through June collapsed to fewer than 88,000.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The UK’s new Labour government entered office off the back of the worst 12 months for housing starts in England in almost 15 years, underscoring the scale of the challenge it faces to spur a construction boom.
The number of new homes starting construction in the year through June collapsed to fewer than 88,000 from more than 190,000 a year earlier, Office for National Statistics data showed Friday. It was the lowest 12-month total since the end of 2009, during the housing market crash caused by the financial crisis.