The number of new homes rose by 11% this year, representing the third consecutive year-on-year increase, Government figures reveal.
The 2016 increase resulted from 163,940 new build homes, 30,600 gains from change of use between non-domestic and residential, 4,760 from conversions between houses and flats and 780 other gains.
‘We promised to turbocharge house building so more people can have the security of their own home, and that is exactly what we are doing with the biggest increase in the number of new homes in many years,’ said housing minister Gavin Barwell.
‘We know there is more to do to ensure the housing market works for everyone and not just the privileged few and we will be setting our further details in our housing white paper shortly.’
Whitehall recently announced a £3bn Home Building Fund which it claims will help build more than 25,000 new homes this Parliament and up to 225,000 in the longer term.
It has also made available an additional £2bn to help speed up delivery of homes on surplus public sector land.
On top of these measures, the Government has argued the Neighbourhood Planning Bill, currently going through Parliament, will also help tackle the country’s acute housing crisis by speeding up processes and strengthening neighbourhood planning.
