THE number of cheaper homes being built in Bradford has “collapsed” under the Coalition, Labour has warned.

Only 30 “affordable homes” - to buy through shared ownership, or available at lower rents - were built in the last financial year, official figures show.

That number is 77 per cent fall on the 130 that were constructed in 2009/10, the last year before David Cameron entered Downing Street.

And the pattern is repeated across the region, with similar falls in Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds.

It means that, across the district, the number of affordable homes built has plummeted from 610 in 2009/10 to 210 in 2013/14.

That decline, of two-thirds, is even sharper than the 50 per cent drop across the country as a whole, revealed in the official figures.

Labour’s housing spokesman Emma Reynolds said the statistics showed the Government was “failing” people who were struggling to get a home of their own.

Councillor Simon Cooke, the housing spokesman for the Conservatives on Bradford Council, said: "The question is in Bradford do we have enough affordable housing for people in Bradford? One thing Bradford doesn't lack is affordable properties for rent. We have some of the lowest private rents in the country.

"It is all well and good people in London throwing around criticism and number crunching, but they should come and see what is happening on the ground."

Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the Council, Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, said Bradford had some of the largest new homes bonuses sent its way, adding: "This obviously isn't being spent on cheaper and affordable homes by the Council.

"The Council housing department needs to take a long hard look at itself."

Labour recently promised to guarantee local first-time buyers up to 50 per cent of newly-built homes in fast-track “housing growth areas”, to be designated by local councils.

But housing minister Brandon Lewis insisted the Government’s efforts to boost housebuilding were “delivering real results.”

The Government was criticised for axing many housing programmes when it came to power, triggering a dramatic drop in the number of homes built.

Meanwhile, local councils remain barred from borrowing money to build homes, as the Government relies on the private sector to step in.

In the summer, more recent figures suggested housebuilding was finally on the rise in Bradford, with 220 homes started within three months – the highest figure in the April to June period since 2010.

But all but 20 of those new homes were being built by private developers suggesting fewer will be categorised as “affordable”.