Figures published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) showed that completions dipped slightly by 2% in the three months covering July to September in contrast to the previous quarter. This is the first quarterly drop since January to March in 2014.
Despite annual growth in completions, the figures show that the government is still way short of its target to build 275,000 homes a year by 2020.
Seasonally adjusted house building starts in England increased marginally in the September quarter by 2%, but fell by 1% in the past 12 months compared to a year earlier.
Completions are also 24% lower than at their peak level in 2007, while starts are 25% down on this same period.
In the year ending September 2015, private housing completions were 13% higher than a year earlier with completions by housing associations also up by 29%. Despite strength in housing association completions, starts in this sector plummeted by 14% in contrast to private housing starts which increased by 3%.
New-build starts are strong in London particularly in Newham, while areas north of the London green belt in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire have also been experiencing high levels.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said Chancellor George Osborne must use the upcoming spending review to commit to investment in building more homes.
“These figures might be hailed as a success story, but the reality is we’re still only building half the homes we need. And when the number of new homes started in the last year has actually decreased slightly, it’s hard to see how the government will deliver on its promise of a million new homes by 2020,” he said.
