Housing programmes delivered by Homes England resulted in 13,229 new houses starting on-site and 14,289 houses completed between 1 April and 30 September 2021. Both starts and completions were higher than in the same period last year, showing that the industry was beginning to recover from the construction slow-down caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Proportion of affordable homes completed was up on the same period last year
- Number of affordable homes started was down, caused by the closure of bidding for the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme (SOAHP) and the beginning of the new Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
Housing programmes delivered by Homes England saw an overall increase in starts and completions in the first half of 2021-22 compared to the previous year, according to official statistics released today (2 December).
There were 13,229 new homes started on-site and 14,289 homes completed through programmes managed by Homes England between 1 April and 30 September 2021. The number of affordable homes started was 9,255 (70 per cent), a decrease of 7 per cent on the same period last year.
Of the housing completions, 10,007 (70 per cent) were for affordable homes.
A total of 1,656 affordable homes started in the first half of 2021-22 were for Affordable Rent, a reduction of 50 per cent on the 3,322 started in the same period last year. There were 1,472 starts under schemes including Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy. There were 5,259 starts defined as 'Affordable Tenure TBC' homes, where the ultimate tenure category is not known until completion.
There were 868 housing starts for Social Rent, an 80 percent increase on the 483 started in the first half of last year.
The number of affordable starts was the lowest since 2017-18 and can be attributed to the closure of bidding for the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme (SOAHP) 2016-21 in March 2021.
Of housing completions in the first half of 2021-22, 10,007 (70 per cent) were for affordable homes. This is a 23 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Of the affordable homes completed, 5,346 were for Affordable Rent and 3,506 under Intermediate Affordable Housing schemes. There were 1,155 Social Rent completions, up 62 per cent on the first half of last year.
Peter Denton, Chief Executive at Homes England, said: "The statistics released today show positive signs that housebuilding is beginning to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the pressures still faced by the industry, it's clear that our partners are working incredibly hard to build the new homes the country needs.
"As the new Affordable Homes Programme swings into action, we look forward to working with ambitious housebuilders of all shapes and sizes, to help them realise their development ambitions and support the Government's housing objectives."
Notes
National housing statistics are published twice a year showing half and full year starts and completions as part of planned national statistical releases. The next release is full year starts and completions, which are due to be published in May/June 2022. Housing figures cannot be provided outside of these official releases.
Homes England programmes are funded by central government to enable private registered providers, house builders, community groups and local authorities to deliver affordable housing.
This release presents the housing starts on site and housing completions delivered by Homes England between 1 April and 30 September 2021 in England excluding London (for both the current and historical series), with the exception of the Build to Rent (BTR), Builders Finance Fund (now called The Home Building Fund - Short Term Fund) and Get Britain Building programmes which are administered by Homes England on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA).
Since April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London.
The list of programmes included in these totals are detailed in the official housing statistics report, which can be found at here.
"Affordable Tenure TBC" refers to units that have reached the start on site milestone but where the tenure of these units has not yet been specified. This was introduced as a flexibility for Strategic Partnerships to enable them to determine tenure close to or at the point of completion. These starts will be restated under their specified tenure headings in future national statistics updates once the tenure has been established at completion. Homes England also manages the Help to Buy equity loan scheme in England (including in London on behalf of the GLA). However, the completions are reported by the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and, therefore, are excluded from these statistics.
