Government’s aspiration for building affordable homes has exceeded its target by over 11,000, the latest HCA’s set of six-monthly housing statistics revealed this month.

A total of 179,170 homes of all tenures were completed through programmes run by the Homes and Communities Agency during the 2011 to 2015 Spending Review period.

51,187 of those were delivered in the final year (2014 to 2015).

HCA Chief Executive, Andy Rose, said: “2014 to 2015 was a strong year of delivery for the agency. It was the final year of the 2011 to 2015 spending period, and I am pleased that we exceeded our completion forecasts across the range of our programmes which all help to support the housing ambitions of local places and communities.

“In doing so, we have exceeded our anticipated contribution to government’s aspiration of up to 170,000 new affordable homes.

“We look forward to working with the new government to help maintain the momentum in delivering new homes across all tenures, and ultimately, create successful places with homes and jobs.”

According to the HCA’s latest set of six-monthly housing statistics published this month, of the 51,187 homes completed in 2014 to 2015, 41,312 or 81% were affordable, an increase of 50% on the previous year.

The remainder, 9,875, were for sale on the open market, an increase of 45% on the year before.

During the year, there were a further 27,414 homes completed with the assistance of the Help to Buy equity loan programme, designed to help people, particularly first time buyers, into home ownership.

All of these programmes and homes help to drive overall housing supply, meeting a range of housing needs in local communities and contributing to local growth.

Download the complete set of housing statistics.