Government plans to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s were described as a “pipedream” after new figures revealed the number of housing starts in England in the first three months of 2019 fell 9% year-on-year.

According to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, new-build dwelling starts in England were figured to be around 36,630, also down 9% quarter-on-quarter.

Completions were estimated at 42,870, 1% down on the previous quarter but 14% higher than a year ago.

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