Number of new homes built in West Midlands down by a quarter

The total of new homes registered in the region from February to April was 3,405.

This compared to 4,375 in the same period last year - a fall of 970.

Nationally there were 40,399 new home registrations in the quarter – a slight decrease of one per cent on last year's figure of 40,877.

More than 14,000 new homes were registered to be built in the UK in April according to the National House Building Council's latest registration statistics – an increase of 17 per cent.

The 14,228 new homes – 11,258 private sector and 2,970 public sector – registered in April, compared to 12,201 (8,988 private sector and 3,213 public sector) 12 months ago. Completions were also up four per cent for the month compared to last April.

Plans, however, are afoot for 14,000 new homes as part of a scheme to create a Black Country Garden City.

The city would bring together towns across the Black Country, building on 3,700 of acres, mostly brownfield sites.

It was unveiled in February and interest has already been shown by developers. More than 500 sites have been earmarked.

NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said: "April's new home figures show that the industry enjoyed a successful month, with registration numbers well ahead of this time last year.

"For the rolling quarter, new home registration volumes are virtually identical, demonstrating further consolidation on last year's levels.

"During these periods of sustained industry activity and production, NHBC remains committed to ensuring the highest possible quality in the standards of the UK's new homes."

Figures were also released yesterday showing 140,180 houses were completed in 2015/16 - a year on year increase of 13 per cent.

Charity Shelter says this is not close to the 250,000 homes it says is needed to address England's housing shortage.

Chief executive Campbell Robb said: "The government has promised to build a million homes by 2020, yet these figures show one of the biggest quarterly falls in the number of homes built that we've seen for a decade.

"We're still only building a little over half the homes we need each year and it's simply not good enough."

He added: "Our drastic shortage of homes has pushed millions of people into expensive and unstable private renting, shelling out vast amounts of their income on rent and watching the dream of a home of their own slip further out of reach.

"And at the sharp end of the crisis, more and more families are languishing in temporary accommodation or on waiting lists, unable to build a future in a home they can afford.

"After six years and a Housing Bill that does little to tackle the underlying cause of our housing crisis, the Government needs to get on the side of people on typical incomes. Rather than schemes like Starter Homes which only help higher earners, it's time they commit to building homes for ordinary people."

Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis said: "We've got the country building again and are seeing our housebuilding efforts paying off with this considerable increase in the number of homes built in just one year."