The number of new homes completed from April to June this year fell 10% on the quarter to 43,660, show figures from the newly christened Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
This is a rise of 167% on the same quarter a year ago, an increase the government report explains “is unusually large due to very low levels of construction in the June quarter 2020, following national restrictions imposed at the time.”
The number of dwellings where building work was started during the same time was 42,900, the data adds which is a 5% drop on the quarter and 150% more than the same quarter a year ago.
As well as this, the report shows there were 59,490 new Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) lodged in England in the June quarter, a 104% rise on the same quarter last year.
“EPCs provide a very close estimate to net additions. As with the net additions figures, those from the EPC data include new builds, conversions and change of use,” says the report when discussing why it includes these figures, which it classes as ‘experimental’.
It continues: “In 2019-20, net addition [dwellings] reached 243,770 and new dwelling EPCs totalled 254,720. In 2020-21, new dwelling EPCs fell to 220,730, a decrease of 13 per cent from 2019-20.”
Legal & General Mortgage Club head of lender relationships Danny Belton says: “The housing market has been put under considerable strain in recent months, with material and labour shortages slowing the development of new homes.
“This has put the government’s target of building 300,000 new homes each year yet further out of reach, but we must find solutions to solve the issue of housing undersupply.
“Its recent commitment to provide £8.6bn in funding for affordable housing will undoubtedly help, but other solutions are also needed.
“If homeownership is going to remain possible for future generations, then alternative construction methods, like modular housing, also need to be considered.
“Both an efficient and environmentally conscious approach, modular could help drive the UK towards its targets, while aligning with the green agenda.”
