BUILDING work on affordable homes in Darlington has been reduced as the pandemic was blamed for a slowdown in schemes across England.

Homes England data shows building started or was completed on 197 affordable homes in Darlington in 2020-21 – 79 fewer than the previous year.

Of the schemes finished in the year to March, 134 affordable homes were completed in the area, including 110 affordable rentals and 24 affordable ownership homes.

However, the number of schemes was much higher than 2017-18, when 120 affordable homes started being built or were delivered.

The news comes after new figures revealed building work on new homes in Darlington accelerated at the start of the year.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) data shows work was completed on 490 homes in the area in 2020-21 – 40 more than the 450 finished the previous year.

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Building work also began on 430 homes – although that was 70 fewer than the 500 in 2019-20.

Across England, 49,470 homes were completed in the first quarter of the year – the highest number for any quarter in more than 20 years and a 4 per cent increase compared to the last three months of 2020.

During the same period, work began on 46,010 homes – a 7 per cent increase on the previous quarter.

The MHCLG figures show that in the year to March, 490 new homes were completed in Darlington – 40 more than in 2019-20.

The Government has committed to investing nearly £20 billion into new housing as part of its Spending Review, including more than £12 billion for affordable housing, as part of its levelling-up agenda.

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After initially halting all construction work at the start of the pandemic, the Government later introduced measures to allow builders to seek more flexible construction site working hours from their local councils.

Certain planning permissions that would otherwise lapse were also extended, in order to support the sector.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: "It is encouraging to see a continued rise in the number of new homes being built.

"The house building sector has shown extraordinary resilience and the Government has continued to demonstrate its support for the industry throughout the pandemic.

"By enabling construction sites to remain open and operate safely, builders have been able deliver the homes this country needs as we build back better from the pandemic."

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