Construction work on new homes in Devon fell by nearly a tenth in the year to April, new figures show.

The Home Builders Federation warned housing supply levels "are flatlining at best" and called on the Government to make it easier for companies to build.

New data released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, show work started on around 3,320 new homes in Devon in the 2024-25 financial year.

This was a decrease of 8% on the around 3,590 properties started in the previous year.

Across England, there were some 113,310 new projects started in this time, a 17% fall on the previous year.

All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

It comes as the newly appointed Housing Secretary promised to roll out a "building acceleration package", as he seeks to speed up the rate of housebuilding across the country.

Steve Reed, who replaced Angela Rayner earlier this month, made the announcement in light of separate figures, which show the number of planning applications received and decided are down 5% from the same period last year.

He described the figures as "unacceptable" and announced he would be rolling out a package aimed at speeding up the rate of approvals and accelerate house building.

Labour has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes before the end of this Parliament, with planning reform high on the agenda to achieve this.

But Neil Jefferson, CEO of the Home Builders Federation, which represents the building industry in England and Wales, said "much more needs to be done" to remove the barriers suppressing housebuilding, if the Government is to meet this target.

He added: "Whilst the speedy changes made by the Government to the planning system were welcome, builders can only build if buyers can buy and we need to see more support, in particular for young people who are currently unable to purchase a new home due to a lack of affordable mortgage lending.

"We also need action to address the delays to processing planning applications and the growing levels of taxation and regulatory costs faced by builders that are making many sites not viable to develop."

Of the new homes started in Devon, approximately 2,200 (66%) were built by private enterprises and 1,130 (34%) by housing associations.

Nationally, private companies were behind 72% of new homes started, with housing associations accounting for 27% and local authorities for 1%.

Housing charity Shelter welcomed the start made by housing associations but said a rapid expansion of social home building was the only way to tackle the housing crisis.

Director of campaigns and policy Mairi MacRae said: "For decades we’ve been draining our social housing stock by not building enough and selling off the few homes we have.

"So it's encouraging to see housing associations getting spades into the ground and homes starting to be built."

She added: "The only way for the Government to reach 1.5 million new homes this parliament is to ramp up the delivery of social homes.

"It needs to set a clear, overall target for social rent homes as well as support councils to get building them to ramp up to 90,000 a year for ten years – the number needed to end the housing emergency for good."

The figures also show there were 3,730 new homes completed in the year to April in Devon, a rise from 3,720 in 2023-24.

Housing Secretary, Steve Reed said: "These figures are unacceptable. I will leave no stone unturned to build 1.5 million homes, so families have the key to home ownership in their hands.

"Fixing the archaic planning system won’t happen overnight. But because of the reforms we have introduced, we will see the biggest era of housebuilding in our country’s history.

"With my leadership, the Government will go further and faster to get Britain building. It’s time to build, baby, build."