The housing figures published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) showing a marked increase in housing starts and completions mask the real housing crisis which is gripping the country, warns the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB, said: "The fact that housing starts are 66 percent higher in Q2 compared to Q1 and that housing completions are 24 percent higher than Q1 is encouraging but the fact remains that housing building is still below 100,000 per annum compared to the Government’s annual target of 240,000.

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"We are still not building enough homes to meet demand which means that there is still little hope for the 4.5 million people on council house waiting lists. To get the house building industry back on its feet the Government needs to do all it can to restore mortgage liquidity because house builders can only build homes that people are in a position to buy. The Government could also be doing more to tackle the growing burden of red tape on house builders because building new homes to meet new requirements to reduce their carbon emissions is adding an estimated £30,000 per property."

(CD/KMcA)