Completions were estimated at 34,920 (seasonally adjusted), 7% higher than the previous quarter but 2% lower than a year ago.
Annual housing starts totalled 144,280 in the year to June 2016, up by 2% compared with the year to June 2015.
During the same period, completions totalled 139,030, an increase of 6% compared with last year.
Rod Lockhart, managing director of LendInvest, said: “The modest pace of the improvements is a concern. At the current rate, we will fall well short of the Government’s target of one million new homes by 2020, and fail to make inroads into the sharp housing shortage in the UK.
“The onus is on the Government to jumpstart the housebuilding industry. The large housebuilders are not keen to do more, so efforts must be focused on small and medium-sized builders. The rumoured £5 billion Home Building Fund is a good start, but finance is not the only area holding these builders back. More has to be done to reduce the complexities of the planning system and open up access to land to build on.”
Yesterday, the Federation of Master Builders backed a Shelter report which calls on the Government to put SMEs at the centre of its house building strategy.
FMB believes the Government could miss its target to build one million new homes by 2020 unless it unlocks the potential of SME house builders.
