HCA housing output rises

The Homes & Communities Agency completed 3,924 social houses in the North West in the 12 months to the end of March 2010 compared with 3,256 the previous year.

The government's national housing and regeneration body also started more houses in 2009/10 than in 2008/09: 3,654 against 3,261.

Deborah McLaughlin, HCA North West director, said: "Building this number of new homes is a fantastic achievement. It is great that our investment provides so many new homes for our communities. Despite difficult market conditions we have worked proactively with local councils and housing providers to keep developments on track.

"It is clear that there will be less public funding available in the future, so we will need to continue to work with councils to focus our efforts where they have most impact in creating high quality places."

• The statistics are published in full at www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/statistics