Covid-19 hinders government hitting 'ambitious' target for new homes

Only 94,000 properties built in first nine months of 2020, well below the 300,000 a year promised

Covid-19 has knocked the government further off course from its housebuilding targets, a study has revealed, with only 94,000 new homes built during the first nine months of 2020.

The first wave of coronavirus led to the temporary closure of construction sites last spring, leaving output well below the 300,000 new homes a year which the Conservatives pledged in their manifesto, according to research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank.