New figures have revealed that the UK's construction orders fell 3% in the three months to October compared with the previous three months and are 21% down for the year.

The depressing revelations from the Office for National Statistics also show orders for private housing fell by 32% between August and October, compared with the previous three months.

However, when compared with last years figures, the contrast is yet more startling, with the present figures representing a 55% fall on 2007.

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In other figures released today, public housing and housing association orders fell by 3% on in the last quarter, but rose 10% on the year.

With the current economic downturn taking hold, Britain's house builders have joined in the suffering with a severe downturn in their industry as the housing market crumbles.

Private and public infrastructure orders were also down 18% over the three months to October representing stagnation throughout the building sector.

The situation has been exacerbated by an unprecedented drop in the value of Sterling, indicating a 1% shrinking in the UK economy and an smaller budget for government departments to fund infrastructure and building works.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research indicated that the rate of output decline was "accelerating", and the institute now expects a fall of more than 1% in the last three months of the year.

(DW)