The number of homes registered as starting on site in the three months to June leapt 21% to its highest level on record, in official figures based on building control data.

The numbers, which the government calls “indicators of new supply” because it doesn’t see them as reliable enough to call them official housebuilding statistics, showed that 51,730 homes were started in the second quarter of the year, seasonally adjusted, up 21% on the first quarter, and up 15% on the same quarter in 2021.

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