Housing surplus

HOW on earth did we come to have 300,000 houses lying empty around the country?

Some experts in the construction business say the long-run requirement for new homes is more like 20,000 units rather than the 60,000 that forecasters had been publishing before the crash.

It may take more than 10 years to clear the surplus, especially with more new houses being built even today. Could there be any more startling proof of the extraordinary incompetence of the Government and public administration?