THE rate of new homes being built in Warrington is more than double the national UK average, latest figures show.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities data shows around 190 new dwellings were built in Warrington in the three months to June.

This demonstrates an increase of 73 per cent from the 110 completed in the same period of 2022.

Of these, 180 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.

This is a 33 per cent increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

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

During the Labour Party conference Sir Keir Starmer pledged to build new towns across the country and 1.5million new homes during the five years of the next parliament to stop housing from becoming ‘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 does not have the policies in place to meet its own housing targets.

“It certainly will not meet its stated ambition to supply 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, may struggle to meet its ambition to build a million new homes this parliament, and is nowhere near meeting actual housing need.

“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.”