The number of housebuilding starts slumped 68% to 21,300 in England in the third quarter of last year and is 52% lower than a year ago, the latest official data shows.
It adds the number of homes completed edged 1% higher to 39,990 compared to the previous quarter, but is 5% down on the same quarter the previous year, according to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.
However, the middle of last June marked the end of the transition period to new building regulatory standards in England covering energy performance and electric vehicle charging points, which skewed quarterly comparisons.
The department says: “Many housebuilders may have chosen to bring forward the start of project works to avoid the costs of complying with these new standards, and this has caused an unusually high peak in starts in the second quarter of 2023, and a corresponding low trough in the third quarter of 2023.”
It adds: “This difficult to assess the underlying trend in starts this quarter and so it is not advised to draw conclusions from comparing this quarter directly with other quarters.”
However, the data shows that 234,400 new homes were built over the 12 months to the end of last September, down by 70 dwellings, or a 0% change, over the previous year.
The government’s target is to add 300,000 homes a year in England.
Across the regions, home completions fell in seven of nine English regions from the previous year, with the largest reduction coming in the North West, where completions tumbled 12%.
The East of England and London were the only two regions where completions rose, with the capital posting the largest rise of 17%.
Last October, Labour leader Keir Starmer pledged to build 1.5 million homes over five years if the party was returned to government, which would include construction on the country’s green belt.
