A 9% year-on-year drop in the number of new build housing starts in England during the last quarter has prompted renewed calls for the government to embrace modern methods of construction (MMC).
Figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) revealed that there were 36,630 new build starts in the March quarter of 2019, down 9% on the year before.
Completions were estimated at 42,870, a 1% drop on the previous quarter but 14% higher than a year ago.
Annual new build dwelling starts totalled 162,270 in the year to March 2019, a 1% increase compared to the year to March 2018. Completions over the same period were 169,770, an increase of 6% compared with last year.
Commenting on the figures, Joseph Daniels, founder of modular builder Project Etopia said: “House building has swung into reverse yet again, and it is a further sign that the industry is not consistent enough in its delivery of new homes. A slump in the pipeline of new homes is now programmed in for later this year.
“With new build starts also 25% down on the pre-crisis peak, the structural problems of the UK’s housing market and the industry’s timid reply are still painfully obvious, even after £10billion of public money has been thrown at it in the form of the Help To Buy scheme.
“Housing is in a state of crisis, yet the response has not reflected how high a priority house-building needs to be in the UK.
“Only by turning to modern methods of construction which are much faster than traditional building can we hope to deliver the housing the country desperately needs.”
Clive Docwra, managing director of construction consulting and design agency McBains, added: “The government has set a target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020s, but today’s figures show that this will remain a pipe dream unless measures are implemented to help boost the number of new build starts and completions.
“These figures bear out that construction firms are suffering from uncertainties over Brexit – investors are wary of committing to new projects while the outcome remains unclear, while skills shortages, which are already acute, will bite further unless the industry is able to recruit skilled workers from overseas.
“The high cost of materials is also impacting on the amount companies can build, and access to finance is often difficult to come by.
“Even though the annual figures show an increase in starts and completions of new homes, these are nowhere near enough to meet the demand for housing. Independent estimates suggest that more than 300,000 new homes need to be build each year until 2031, so today’s figures prove that the housing crisis is still miles away from being solved.”
