There are too many new homes in England, says a report which says that two-thirds of local planning authorities are over-delivering.

The report from investment bank Goodbody flies in the face of widespread claims that there is a housing crisis caused by lack of supply.

Goodbody says that there is “continuing over-supply” across England.

However, in two regions – London and the east – too few homes were completed over the last three years as the result of a “soft” market.

In London, builders have been “aggressively cutting new supply” and the stock of new homes for sale is now down by one-third since 2018. It says builders have been cutting back on supply in response to demand.

The report says that in January, 19,300 new homes were sold in England, a 42% rise on a year earlier.

In the east region, new home sales are up 85% year on year, and in the south-east up 59%.

Using the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s own figures, 589,000 additional homes were required in the three years to 2019. However, 667,000 were actually delivered.

As a result of 66% of local planning authorities over-delivering, the report says that new dwelling completions were 13% greater than housing needs in England in the three-year period.

Regionally, the north-east produced 64% more homes than required, according to the report, “Siteworks: A quarterly analysis of the UK new homes market”.