Housing starts fell by 14% in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the first, although annual housebuilding levels nevertheless reached a 6-year high in June.
The Conservative government has pledged to deliver 275,000 affordable homes by 2020, while £10m has been allocated to bring forward brownfield sites to build new starter homes, which will be available to young first-time buyers at a 20% discount.
Charles Haresnape, group managing director, mortgages, at Aldermore, said: “With housing supply proving a continual constraint on the market, the number of starts and completions need to be increasing, especially if the UK is to hit the annual target from the Barker Review of Housing Supply.
“The Chancellor’s announcement to extend the government’s “starter homes” scheme to villages to boost rural housing levels is extremely positive, and continued effort to implement other initiatives like this is needed to achieve a more balanced housing policy.”
Latest figures from the Office For National Statistics found that construction activity increased by 2.7% in June compared to the same month last year, while work on private new housing between April and June rose by nearly 3.9% on the previous quarter.
