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Housing minister Grant Shapps has rejected allegations that the government deliberately delayed the publication of statistics showing a 97% drop in the construction of affordable until after the publication of the housing strategy this week.

Shapps told the Today programme that ministers had not seen the figures before publication of the strategy, and that the figures had been scheduled for release on the Tuesday a month in advance.

Shapps added that it would have been false manipulation if the government had changed the timing of the announcement to allow the figures to come out beforehand. He said: 鈥淵ou just can鈥檛 win, if you move the strategy because a set of official strategy then you鈥檒l be accused be manipulating the timing around it.

鈥淲e should not be moving our programme around because of a set of official statistics, that is what would be wrong, that is what would be an abuse of power. What we鈥檝e done is absolutely correct, and frankly I think you [Today programme] have given a very misleading report, and frankly we鈥檙e going to build more affordable homes in this country and that鈥檚 what should matter.

Shapps also angrily rejected a report on yesterday鈥檚 Today programme that he had pulled out of an interview on the topic yesterday, with Today presenter John Humphries claiming the programme had received an undertaking from Shapps鈥� staff that he would speak. Shapps said: 鈥淚t was never going to be possible, I was never booked in, but the programme clearly left the impression that I had been.

鈥淚 tried to bend over backwards to make it happen.鈥�

The interview was scheduled to answer growing concerns over the timing of the announcement of the collapse in affordable housing starts between April and September, which came just 24 hours after the launch of the government鈥檚 拢1.5bn housing strategy.

Shapps said the drop off had been caused by a hiatus between the ending of the old National Affordable Housing Programme, and the signing of new Affordable Rent contracts under the new scheme. Last week the Homes and Communities said 拢1bn-worth of contracts for affordable homes have now been signed, and sources claim the government is still confident of meeting its targets for the full year.

He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 inevitable if you move from one programme to another, to a new programme 鈥� you鈥檒l see something like this happen in the numbers. However in the reality we鈥檙e going to build new homes in the new system, then presumably it鈥檚 worth moving to the new system.

鈥淚n another six months you鈥檒l see a huge increase.鈥�

Shadow housing minister Jack Dromey has written to Shapps over the issue asking what discussions Shapps had with the prime minister and officials over the timing of the announcement and the publication of the statistics. He also called for an urgent debate on affordable housing, and for Shapps to apologise for 鈥渕isleading鈥� the public.

鈥淕rant Shapps is wilfully misleading the public over what is the worst housing crisis in a generation. He should be ashamed and should apologise to the public today.

鈥淣ow the public know the Government snuck these figures out quietly, the day after announcing their housing strategy. Cameron鈥檚 Government knew a month in advance that these figures were coming, but seem to have timed their cynical announcement of a 鈥渉ousing revolution鈥� the day before the truth could be told of the biggest fall in affordable house building in history.