Annual Housebuilding Starts and Completions Fall

A FALL IN housebuilding figures for both new build homes started and completed in the year ending March 2021 is shown in new figures published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

Although quarterly starts and completions increased, the impact of COVID-19 has meant the longer term trend is sluggish, putting the government target of building 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the decade at risk.

Housebuilding

According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the indicators of new housing supply statistics should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply.

They show:

• An increase in quarterly starts, with the number of dwellings where building work has started on site was 46,010 in January to March 2021 – a 7% increase when compared to last quarter, and the highest number of quarterly starts since January to March 2007.
• The number of dwellings completed also increased, with 49,470 completed in January to March 2021, a 4% increase when compared to last quarter, and the highest quarterly completions figure since the beginning of the seasonally adjusted series in 2000.
• But, for the year ending March 2021, there were 140,170 estimated new build dwellings starts – a 4% decrease compared to the year to March 2020.
• And an estimated 155,960 new build dwellings were completed in the year to March 2021, a decrease of 11% compared to the year to March 2020.
• In the year to March 2021, starts fell in most regions except for London, the North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber. In London, starts were 18 per cent higher in the year to March 2021 than the year to March 2020, and in the North East starts were 10% higher than the previous year.  The largest decrease was 13 per cent in the North West.
• All regions had a decrease in completions in the year to March 2021 from the year to March 2020.  The smallest decrease was 6% in the North West, and the largest was 17% in the East of England.

Clive Docwra, managing director of property and construction consultancy McBains, said: “The impact of COVID, and lockdown in particular, has no doubt had an impact on starts and completions, and although the quarterly figures show promise, housing supply is still coming from behind and construction will need to be ramped up to meet government housebuilding targets.

“Volume housebuilders alone won’t be able to deliver this growth, so the government needs to support small and medium-sized housebuilders and delivers on its promise to cut red tape and speed up ‘permission in principle’ for new homes.

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