More new homes starting to be built in Lancaster this year
Work started on more new homes in Lancaster earlier this year, recent figures suggest.
Ahead of last year's general election, Labour had pledged it would "get Britain building again" and deliver 1.5 million new homes over this parliament.
While the number of new build dwelling starts increased significantly in England this year, the Local Government Association called for increased support to enable councils "to build more affordable, good quality homes quickly and at scale".
It comes as local authorities across the country started building fewer new homes.
Figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government suggest around 30 new homes started being built in Lancaster in the three months to March – up from about 10 over the same period the previous year.
All of those were started by private enterprises.
These figures are rounded to the nearest 10, and may be subject to revision.
Across England, some 28,180 new homes started to be built in the three months to March.
It was down 9% from the previous quarter, but up 22% on the year before.
While the number of new build dwellings started by housing associations increased this year, from around 6,050 in the three months to March 2024 to 6,480 over the same period this year, fewer homes started being built by local authorities, from about 630 last year to 200 this year.
Cllr Adam Hug, LGA housing spokesperson, said: "Local government shares ambitions to boost housebuilding and work hard with communities and developers to deliver new sites.
"Private developers have a key role in solving our chronic housing shortage but they cannot build the homes needed each year on their own.
"Councils need to be empowered to be able to build more affordable, good quality homes quickly and at scale."
Labour had also pledged, if elected, to "prioritise the building of new social rented homes" and "deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation".
The figures also show around 10 new homes were completed in Lancaster in the three months to March – down from 50 over the same period the year before.
Across England, some 36,180 new homes were completed during that time. It was down 2% from the previous quarter and a 5% decrease on the previous year.