The latest quarterly survey published by the Homes and Communities Agency also revealed there was an upturn in affordable home ownership sales with 2,401 sales reported in the quarter. The stock of unsold homes increased to 4,999.
Market sales data recorded 645 sales with 788 homes developed for market sale in the quarter.
The survey also said the social housing sector has access to sufficient finance, with £12.5bn in undrawn facilities and £4.8bn held in cash.
The vast majority of providers (95% of providers) anticipate that debt facilities are sufficient for more than 12 months. Over £4bn cash is available with 32% of this being held by 14 providers who each report over £75m available. Most of the sector’s forecast debt requirement over the next two years is to fund development programmes.
Jonathan Walters, deputy director of regulation at the HCA, said: “We continue to monitor the sector’s financial health, and that of individual providers, closely and overall, the sector remains financially strong.
“Income collection data suggests that the sector is continuing to manage the impact reform with most providers currently outperforming their business plans. The regulator will continue to monitor income collection as universal credit is rolled out.”
