Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

Her Majesty's Government what are the annual figures for housing starts in (1) the United Kingdom; and (2) England, from 1979 to 2016; and how these figures compare to the equivalent figures for (a) Germany, (b) France, (c) Ireland and (d) Poland.

New build dwelling starts for the United Kingdom and England for 1979 to 2016 are shown in the table below. These cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded only as an approximate leading indicator of overall housing supply.

The Department also publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. The most recent publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/housing-supply-net-additional-dwellings-england-2015-to-2016

The Department does not hold figures for Germany, France, Ireland, or Poland.

Table 1. New build dwelling starts for the United Kingdom and England

Sources:

1. United Kingdom and England (Department for Communities and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government, Scottish Government, Department of Finance (Northern Ireland), District Council Building Control (Northern Ireland). Released 25 May 2017. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building