Housebuilders are in urgent talks with the government over how to relax “lockdown” rules on the housing market in order to prevent a calamitous drop in the volume of new house building.

While a number of the largest housebuilders have heeded government calls to re-open sites in recent days, there are growing fears that the industry will remain on “go slow” until rules hindering the buying and selling of homes are relaxed.

…