Developers Accused Of Slowing Supply Of New Homes

Housing developers have been accused of exploiting Britain's housing crisis to make profits by deliberately slowing the supply of homes.  It has led experts to call for the Government to start directly building homes to send a signal to the industry that 'landbanking' - profiting from sitting on land while prices rise - is unacceptable.  Nearly half a million homes in England have been granted planning permission but have yet to be built - a new record. And the time it takes to complete new homes has jumped from an average of 24 weeks to 32 weeks.  Despite authorities increasing the rates of planning permission - a rise of 60 per cent since 2010 - the rate of home building has increased by just 48 per cent.  These figures come at the same time as some of Britain's biggest developers have declared record profit margins and coincides with a growing housing crisis in the UK. Read more on the Daily Mail website.