Fall in number of new houses being built in the High Peak district

The number of new houses being completed in the High Peak area has dropped, new figures reveal.
The number of new houses being built in the High Peak district has droppedThe number of new houses being built in the High Peak district has dropped
The number of new houses being built in the High Peak district has dropped

This bucks the trend for England, where home completions were at their highest level for a decade during the nine months to September 2018.

In High Peak, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data shows that 170 houses were completed during the period, down from 330 the previous year.

The number of new houses being built in the High Peak district has droppedThe number of new houses being built in the High Peak district has dropped
The number of new houses being built in the High Peak district has dropped
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The data only includes new houses and doesn't take into account conversions of houses into flats or changes of use from office to dwelling.

In High Peak, private developers funded 71 per cent of all new homes.

Housing associations paid for the rest.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said the Government needed to increase its efforts to meet its target of 300,000 new homes a year.

She said: “The fact housebuilding rates have picked up since the start of the decade is a welcome sign, but the Government still needs to make giant strides.

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"To achieve this, it simply cannot rely on private developers alone – building social homes must be top of the agenda."

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Alongside completed properties, building started on a further 150 homes in High Peak between January and September last year, down from 310 the previous year.

Nationally, new homes completions are on the rise, with 116,670 built and 130,010 started in the period.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, put the nationwide rising number of home completions down to the Government improving conditions for house builders.

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He said: "Successive Governments have helped create a much more positive policy environment, that has allowed the industry to invest with confidence in the people and land needed to build more homes.

"All indicators suggest we will see further increases in output and planning permission for new homes.

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"Unlike the second-hand market, new home sales have generally remained resilient to the ongoing uncertainty, but clearly demand for new homes is reliant on a level of economic stability."

Nationally house building has mostly decreased since the 1960s. The early part of this decade saw house building at its lowest peacetime level since the 1920s.