Housing activity falls in Wales

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Construction activity in the Welsh housing sector dropped significantly during the first three months of the year.

In future, projects similar to Barratt's Copper Quarter in Swansea - which has started on site - might be less likely to go ahead after the Welsh Assembly Government revealed  the number of new Welsh housing projects starting had tumbled in the first quarter of 2008.

New figures from the Welsh Assembly have revealed only 1,816 new homes were started between January and March, a 36 per cent fall from the previous quarter and a 13 per cent decline from the same period in 2007.

There was also a substantial fall in the number of housing completions for the quarter.

There were 1,820 dwellings finished in the three-month period, down 20 per cent on the previous quarter and 32 per cent on the same time last year.

The new figures revealed the private sector accounted for 1,781 of new dwellings started - about 98 per cent of all activity. The remaining 35 dwellings were built by registered social landlords.

News of the slides come as developers face uncertainty over new green building targets set by the Welsh Assembly.