New housing starts were also 23% higher quarter on quarter, according to building control data.

The annual growth follows reforms at the Building Safety Regulator to accelerate housebuilding, the government says.

The number of dwellings completed was 36,720, which is a 9% increase when compared to the previous quarter and a 1% increase when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Separate figures also released today and covering the same period from October to the end of December, show a decline in the number of planning applications received and also in the number granted.

They show district level planning authorities in England received 76,300 applications for planning permission, down 4% from the same quarter a year earlier.

Authorities granted 63,000 applications, which was down 3% year on year.

This means that 87% of applications were approved, up 1 percentage point from the same quarter a year earlier.

On the decline in the number of planning applications and approvals, Hampshire Trust Bank managing director development finance Neil Leitch says: “This decrease underlines the continued pressure within the planning system.

“Delays have become embedded in the development process, acting as a structural constraint on how quickly schemes can progress and ultimately how many homes are delivered.

“Momentum is too often lost between pre-application engagement and formal determination.

“That gap does not just affect individual schemes, it disrupts the pipeline behind them, particularly for SME developers who are more exposed to extended timelines and the impact that has on cashflow and capital recycling.

“The issue is no longer simply how long decisions take, but how many schemes remain viable by the time they receive approval.

“Longer programmes do not just delay delivery, they actively erode viability by increasing costs, compressing margins and reducing the flexibility developers have to absorb further cost movement once delivery begins.”

On housing starts Leitch adds: “Despite this increase, it does little to change the underlying reality of a market still under sustained pressure.

“Developers are still operating in a more disciplined and less forgiving market, where planning delays, tighter margins and funding uncertainty continue to shape how quickly schemes move from approval to delivery.

“Starts are the clearest reflection of the pressures already embedded in the system.

“By the time a scheme reaches site, much of the risk has already been priced in, and the delays currently being seen in planning will continue to feed through into delivery in the months ahead.

“The challenges in the planning system remain a key part of that, with delays upstream continuing to limit how quickly approved schemes can move into delivery.”