Almost 20,000 new flats were completed this spring, making up 44 per cent of all new housing. Six years ago, only 7,000 flats were built over the equivalent period. Flats then accounted for less than 20 per cent of the total output, while detached houses made up 53 per cent of new-builds.

Today's Times reports on a crisis of more and more tinier and tinier flats, built for a market that's crying out for houses. The piece quotes interesting research from the Halifax, which suggests the two-tier property market might not be about North and South, or London and The Rest, or The Rest and Prime, but flats and houses:

Figures from the Halifax show that the price of a new flat fell by almost 5 per cent over the past year while the cost of a semidetached house rose by nearly 6 per cent, slightly higher than the market average.

More here.