New housing starts in England 134% higher than low point of March 2009

New home starts in England reached just over 40,000 in the third quarter of 2017, up 1% compared to the same period in 2016 but down 4% on the previous quarter, official figures show.

Completions reached 39,250, some 2% lower than the previous quarter but 5% higher than a year ago, according to the data published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Annual new build home starts totalled 166,100 in the year to September 2017, up by 10% compared with the year to September 2016 and completions totalled 154,220, an increase of 9% on 2016, the figures also show.

Private enterprise new build starts in the September quarter were down 6% from the previous quarter and completions were also down, recording a fall of 2%, while starts by housing associations were 1% up and completions were 1% lower.

All housing starts are now 134% per cent above the trough in the March quarter of 2009 but 18% below the March quarter 2007 peak. All completions are 56% above the trough in the March quarter of 2013 and 19% below their March quarter 2007 peak.

It is a step in the right direction towards reaching the Government’s new target of 300,000 new homes by the mid 2020s, according to Craig Hall, new build manager of the Legal & General Mortgage Club.

‘The year on year increase in the number of new build starts and completions is certainly a step in the right direction, but it is clear that we still have a long way to go if we are to meet the Government’s target of delivering 300,000 new homes per year,’ he said.

‘However, given the focus in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget on addressing our housing crisis with a further £44 billion funding over the next five years providing support for SME’s, developing construction skills and modern methods of construction, we should start to see significant improvements in the number of houses built in 2018 and beyond,’ he added.