<b>Steve Menary looks at the latest results of Housebuilder&amp;’s regional planning application survey and finds that the third quarter of the year has seen a significant drop in activity in the south</b><br><b>The latest quarterly survey of &amp;“who&amp;’s planning to build where&amp;” from Emap Glenigan suggests that housebuilders are holding back on submissions in southern England as the housing market starts to slow.</b><br><b>The trend is most evident in the South East, where just one housebuilder - Barratt - has put in applications for more than a thousand units in the 12 months to September 2002.</b><br><b>A year ago, when Barratt was also leading the pack, nine out of ten firms in the south east top ten had applied to build 1,000 or more units.</b><br><b>In London, the slowdown was more marked but only one company has applied to build 1,000 or more units in the year to September 2002 against a trio of firms at the same stage a year ago.</b><br><b>Berkeley was top a year ago and applications for 2,217 units in the last year are enough to comfortably retain first place and Barratt stays second but with a submission rate that has halved in the past 12 months.</b><br><b>persimmon leap</b><br>In the South West, …