The Highland Council are hosting a summit in an attempt to tackle the slump in property development in the Highlands.

The meeting to be held in the Lochardil Hotel, Inverness, will be attended by Construction firms and financial representatives.

In February the council reported that the building of new homes in the Highlands reached an all time high in 2007, major housing completions accounted for 63% of developments. The rest of the completions were smaller scale developments. However this year the number of new start properties has dwindled from 400 last year to 70 in 2008.

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Authorities want more affordable housed to be built in the area.

Albyn Housing Society chief executive Calum Macaulay said: "In the short-term at least Albyn intends to maintain its contribution to meeting these needs across the Highlands and work with Highland Council to meet its target of 500 new affordable homes a year."

(GK/JM)