Number of homes started and completed fell sharply as covid crisis bit
The number of Homes England-funded houses on which work was started fell by 38% year-on-year in the six months to September.
Homes England said the severity of the drop in starts, alongside a 25% drop in completions compared to 2019/20, reflected the impacted of the coronavirus pandemic which saw work pause on sites across the UK from the end of March.
The quango saw work start on 11,313 homes, a drop from the 18,221 houses produced in the April-September period last year, and the lowest figure since 2012-13. The figures represent an even bigger drop, of 62%, on the number of homes produced in the last six month period, between October 2019 and March 2020.
However, that huge drop-off partly reflects the usual cyclicality of affordable homes funding, where more activity is recorded in the second half of the financial year.
Starts on site for market sale homes were particularly badly affected, with the 2,416 begun a drop of 53% from the 5,052 begun in the same period in 2019.
Meanwhile 11,358 homes were completed in the six months to September, down from 25,406 the same time in 2019, and the lowest number since 2015-16.
The drop off in work came as the government extended funding under the 2016-21 funding round by a year in order to allow housing associations and developers to deliver homes later without losing their ability to claim government subsidy.
Nick Walkley, chief executive of Homes England (pictured), said covid-19 had had a significant impact on the construction industry in the period, but that the government’s announcement of £7.5bn of affordable housing programme for the agency between 2021 and 2026 would help to stimulate the sector.
He said: “We are encouraged by the latest economic data showing that the construction sector is recovering and growing strongly, with housebuilding performing particularly well, and hope that the positive news on the development of several effective vaccines will aid further recovery.”
The figures cover all homes produced on land or programmes funded by housing quango Homes England, which funds affordable housing and administers other government housing programmes across the whole of England outside London.
No comments yet