The first three quarters of 2019 saw 155,270 new homes completed in the UK.
Across 2019, 178,790 new homes were built in England, according to the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) UK House Building dataset.
This included 144,670 completed by the private sector.
In the rest of the UK, the number of new homes completed stood at 6,080 in Wales, 16,280 in Scotland (barring Q4 for which data was unavailable) and 7,440 in Northern Ireland.
All though data for the UK as a whole was unavailable in Q4, the first three quarters of 2019 saw 155,270 new homes completed.
There were 203,870 permanent dwellings started and completed in the UK in the 2018-19 financial year, including 169,020 in England, 5,780 in Wales, 21,260 in Scotland and 7,810 in Northern Ireland.
Joseph Daniels, founder of offsite eco developer Project Etopia, said: “Before coronavirus brought the country to a standstill, the house building sector actually finished more homes in England last year than at any time since the financial crash.
“Last year’s 178,790 new homes beats the previous high set in 2007 when the industry completed 176,640 new builds.
“The statistics show that things were improving before coronavirus stopped the industry’s momentum in its tracks.
“With announcements this week from a series of large house builders about returning to site, thoughts will now be turning to how quickly the sector can get the construction rate back to where it was.
“Completions rose by nearly 9% between 2018 and 2019, which is an indication that the country was starting to make a real dent in the housing targets.”
