Recent figures from The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government suggest that support for all of those involved in the housing market, along with measures to help the construction industry work safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to an increase in the number of completed homes.
The official statistics show that 35,710 homes were started in July to September 2020, a 111% increase when compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, 45,000 homes were completed in the same period, representing a 185% increase on the previous quarter.
The statistics come out just as the government permits construction work to continue during the most recent lockdown, while encouraging local authorities to target construction workers for rapid asymptomatic testing as they are unable to work from home.
Speaking about the statistics, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, said: “The figures show that the number of new homes developers have started building have more than doubled compared to the previous quarter, and the number of completed homes has almost tripled.
“This reflects the government’s commitment throughout the pandemic to support the industry to enable construction sites to remain open and operate safely.
“We extended planning permission deadlines and flexible working hours on sites so that builders, architects and developers have been able to continue working, while following public health advice. In turn, this has protected millions of jobs, from builders, through to estate agents and carpenters.”
He added: “The housing industry is key to our economic recovery, which is why we’re investing £12 billion in affordable housing, providing £400 million to build more homes on brownfield land, and investing £7.1 billion for a new National Home Building Fund over the next four years, unlocking up to 860,000 homes.”
