Almost two dozen new build homes completed in Burnley this year

Some 20 new dwellings were built in the town by private developers in the three months to June, according to Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures.

The stats also show that work began on 80 new properties over the same period.

But experts said the Government’s national target to build one million homes by the end of this parliamentary term is too low to meet demand for housing.

Luke Murphy, associate director for energy, climate, housing and infrastructure at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said housing in England “is now among the poorest quality and most expensive in the developed world.

“We now have millions of people renting privately, often in poor quality conditions or with little security, but still paying sky-high rents.

“Yet the Government doesn't have the policies in place to meet its own housing targets. It certainly won't meet its stated ambition to supply 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, and may struggle to meet its ambition to build one million new homes this parliament, and is nowhere near meeting actual housing need.

He added: “Estimates suggest that up to 340,000 homes are needed in England each year, with 145,000 of those being affordable. The Government needs to get serious about reforming our dysfunctional land market and investing in the genuinely affordable homes that people across the country so desperately need.”

And Anthony Breach, who is a senior analyst at the Centre for Cities, said: “The target is far too low – there is no evidence to suggest that building one million homes will be enough to solve the housing crisis.”

He added: “The planning system is responsible for Britain’s acute housing crisis and the limits it places on our growth.

“This country is in the minority in the developed world in having a discretionary planning system that rations the supply of land for new homes. This means that housebuilding always falls below where it needs to be, even during what looks like historic peaks in housebuilding.”