Industry and government statistics issued this month point to a worrying lack of new home building activity. <br> <br> Latest DCLG figures reveal that although new home starts in 2010 reached 103,140, up 32% on 2009, 102,570 houses were completed in England in 2010, 13% down on 2009 – an all time low according to industry. <br> <br> Meanwhile figures from the Home Builders Federation and Glenigan show that planning permissions for housebuilding continue to slide. The second Housing Pipeline report finds that local authority planning permissions have fallen for a third consecutive quarter. In Q4 2010, only 33,000 homes were approved for construction in Great Britain – a 9% slide on the previous quarter and a 22% drop on a year ago. <br> <br> The report charts the steady decline in permissions granted to developers to start new homes in England throughout 2010. The figures decreased from more than 40,000 in Q1 to below 30,000 in Q4, coinciding with the coalition government’s shake up of the planning system. <br> <br> “The problem is that we have a planning system in the midst of radical change, expensive and unnecessary red tape and a shortage of mortgage availability,” said HBF chairman …