IN NUMBERS: The number of homes delivered by UK builders has failed to hit current government targets for more than four decades.

Government household projections predict that just over 225,000 homes will be needed each year over the new parliamentary period, however over the last five years data from DCLG shows an average of 113,000 completions.

Judged over a 10-year period that number rises to 136,000 per annum but is still just over half of government’s targets.

“We have to look back at monitoring data for the 1970s when annual housing completions in England hit the delivery of at least 225,000 homes per annum,” said Dominick Veasey, associate at Nexus Planning, adding: “This was a period where the public sector took the lead on social housing delivery on land within its control. The question is whether the development industry alone can consistently deliver the level of new homes needed.

“A new programme of public sector-led market and affordable housing construction is needed to boost the supply of new homes needed with the capital receipts from market housing delivery used to fund and deliver affordable housing.”