New home starts and completions in England gained momentum in the second quarter of the year — but reveal a mixed picture when looked at over 12 months, the latest housing department data shows.  

Between April and June, new home starts lifted 6% to 31,430 from the previous quarter. This breaks down into private housebuilder starts up 6.3% to 23,820, housing associations up 4% to 7,320, with local authorities jumping 45% to 290. 

Over the same period, new home completions lifted 11% to 36,160. This comprises private housebuilder starts up 14% to 27,050, housing associations up 7% to 8,860, with local authorities tumbling 56% to 250. 

However, starts and completions were down over the first full year of the government, showing that the administration has work to do to hit its target of building 1.5 million homes by the next election, which means building around 300,000 homes a year. 

During 2023-24, new home starts fell 23% to 136,450 from 12 months ago, with 113,310 starts after the first six months of 2025. 

This breaks down into private housebuilder starts down 26% to 101,120, with 82,320 starts after the first six months of the year. 

Housing associations starts down 17% to 32,270, with 31,110 starts this year. 

And local authority starts jumping up 65% to 3,070, with 880 starts this year. 

Over the same 2023-24 period, new home completions fell 8.3% to 160,330 from 12 months ago, with 152,040 starts after the first six months of this year. 

This comprises private housebuilder completions down 12.5% to 122,150 from last year, with 114,420 completions after six months. 

Housing associations completions down 6% to 35,320, with 35,300 completions this year. 

And Local authority completions jumping 44% to 2,850 from a year ago, with 2,260 completions this year. 

The data comes after new housing secretary Steve Reed met developers last week and promised “a blitz of new measures” over the coming weeks and months, including new towns across the country and the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill passing into law”.  

This Bill, introduced by the department and currently in the committee stage of the House of Lords, is central to Labour’s plan to build new homes. 

The government says this legislation will sweep aside planning objections, allowing it to kick-start the building of new home developments and major infrastructure projects in the final three years of this parliament.