Housing starts and completions down on same period last year, Homes England data shows

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In the first six months of the financial year, housing starts have seen sharpest decline

Total housing starts have decreased by more than 22% in the first six months of this financial year, compared to the previous year, while housing completions are down by 8.7%, according to Homes England data.

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Housing starts and completions have fallen in the first half of this financial year, Homes England says

In the first six months of the previous financial year, there was a total of 14,899 housing starts.

Between 31 March and 31 September this year, the number of all housing starts dropped to 11,530, a decrease of 22%.

A total of 11,297 housing completions were delivered in England through programmes managed by Homes England in the first half of this financial year, while 12,377 homes were completed in the same period last year.

Starts on homes for affordable rent halved to 1,058 in the first six months of the 2023/24 financial year. During the same period last year, 2,162 starts on affordable homes were made.

The total affordable housing starts, including homes for affordable rent, social rent, intermediate rent, affordable home ownership and affordable tenure to be confirmed all dropped, with a decrease from 11,036 starts last year to 9,927 starts in the first half of this financial year.

The Homes England half-year housing statistics report stated: “As with total housing starts, this decrease is due to the impact of the economic downturn on the housebuilding industry”.

Social rent homes starts on site reduced slightly from 837 in the first six months of the 2022/23 financial year to 722 starts between 31 March and 31 September 2023.

The number of market starts on site decreased from 3,863 in the previous year, to 1,608 between April and September this year, which represents a 59% drop.

The report said the decrease in market starts was due to the slowdown in housebuilding activity caused by the economic downturn and the closure of the Home Building Fund - Short Term Fund to new bids.

The figures, published by Homes England on 14 December, show the number of housing starts and completions delivered through Homes England’s programmes.

The data excludes London for all programmes except those run by Homes England on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA).