A survey carried out on 431 house builders across England revealed that 57% increased the rate at which they built new homes in the last year.
House builders have predicted a further rise of housing over the next 12 months, however only 48% believed the Government's target of building 300,000 homes a year on average by the mid 2020s was achievable.
Those surveyed cited worries over land availability, slow planning permission and skills shortages as barriers that were preventing them from building more homes. They expect that 22% of new homes will be classed as affordable homes to rent or buy.
Clive Docwra, managing Director of McBains who commissioned the survey, said "the construction industry relies on thousands of skilled EU workers because of skills shortages in the domestic workforce, and with these workers potentially prevented from working in the UK after the Brexit transition period ends in 2021, many housebuilders will be struggling to find the workforce needed to build the new homes that are urgently needed".
24% of those surveyed said the Government should incentivise large construction companies to develop more with speed and efficiency, to discourage them from holding on to land, such as introducing a land value tax. 19% of those surveyed also said the Government should provide loan finance to help support small and medium-sized developers build more homes.
