Fewer new build homes completed in Wigan this spring

Experts said the current target set by the Government, which is to build one million homes by the end of this parliamentary term, is too low to meet demand for housing.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures show around 200 new dwellings were built in Wigan in the three months to June – a decrease from the 310 completed in the same period of 2022.

Of these, 170 were built by private developers, while the remainder were social homes financed by housing associations.

Across the country, according to seasonally adjusted figures, 67,600 new dwellings were started in the second quarter of the year, a 33 per cent increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

The local figures have not been seasonally adjusted and have been rounded to the nearest 10.

The increase has been attributed to new building standards introduced, which prompted house builders to bring forward the start of project works to avoid the costs of complying with the regulations.

During the Labour Party conference Sir Keir Starmer pledged to build new towns across the country and 1.5 million homes during the five years of the next Parliament to stop housing become “a luxury for the few”.

Locations for new towns will be identified based on proximity to busy transport hubs, very high levels of housing need and avoidance of nature spots and important green spaces – with sites designated in the first six months of a Labour government.

Luke Murphy, associate director for energy, climate, housing and infrastructure at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said housing in England “is now among the poorest quality and most expensive in the developed world”.

He added: “We now have millions of people renting privately, often in poor quality conditions or with little security, but still paying sky-high rents.

“Yet the Government doesn't have the policies in place to meet its own housing targets. It certainly won't meet its stated ambition to supply 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, and may struggle to meet its ambition to build one million new homes this parliament, and is nowhere near meeting actual housing need.”

In Wigan, 450 new build constructions got under way in the three months to June – more than last year, when 180 dwellings were started.

Mr Murphy added: “Estimates suggest that up to 340,000 homes are needed in England each year, with 145,000 of those being affordable. The Government needs to get serious about reforming our dysfunctional land market and investing in the genuinely affordable homes that people across the country so desperately need.”

Anthony Breach, senior analyst at the Centre for Cities, said: “The target is far too low – there is no evidence to suggest that building one million homes will be enough to solve the housing crisis.”

He added: “The planning system is responsible for Britain’s acute housing crisis and the limits it places on our growth.

“This country is in the minority in the developed world in having a discretionary planning system that rations the supply of land for new homes. This means that housebuilding always falls below where it needs to be, even during what looks like historic peaks in housebuilding.”