<b><b>Policy puzzler</b></b><br> In his latest Housing Market Report for the House Builders Federation, my colleague John Stewart points out the near total collapse of private sector housebuilding and public sector renting.<p></p><p>While private sector completions have hovered around 1924 levels for months, Stewart calculates council house completions toppled from 192,000 in 1967 to 552 in 2001. Social housing, intended to fill the gap, plunged from 38,000 in 1995 to 21,000 in 2001. Blaming incompetence on both sides of the political spectrum, Stewart gives little hope of early improvement.</p><p>All of which makes it strange to discover in<i> The Times</i> that the widest gap between the two main parties on key policy issues concerns housing: just 9% think the Conservatives have the top housing policies, while 48% reckons Labour has all the answers. Labour&amp;’s lead jumped 11% - the best performance in any subject bar defence - since February 2001.</p><p>Labour&amp;’s housing policies are acclaimed, and sweeping the country. </p><p>But what can they possibly be?</p><p><b><b>Deco dimension</b></b><br> The new generation is taking over at Octagon Developments, another jewel in the Laing crown, and admirers of the company detect a new serenity in its latest glossy advertising campaign. Total completions might drop a little this year, …