In the year to Q1 2016 housing starts rose by 1% from the previous period to hit 139,680.
Housebuilding starts in England fell by 9% year-on-year to reach just 35,530 in the first quarter of 2016 – casting doubt on the Conservative Party’s plan to build a million new homes by 2020.
In the year to Q1 2016 housing starts rose by 1% from the previous period to hit 139,680.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “These figures show one of the biggest quarterly falls in the number of homes built that we've seen for a decade.
“We're still only building a little over half the homes we need each year.”
Completions rose by 12% increase year-on-year which was hailed by housing minister Brandon Lewis.
He said: “We’ve got the country building again and are seeing our housebuilding efforts paying-off with this considerable increase in the number of homes built in just one year.
"This is real progress but there is more to do. That’s why we are going further and increasing our investment in housebuilding to ensure many more hard-working people can benefit."
