<p><span>Almost 50,000 new homes were built in the first three months of this year, the highest quarterly figure for more than 20 years, according to the latest government housebuilding figures.</span></p> <p><span>Building control data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for England from January to March 2021, showed that 49,470 home completions were achieved in Q1 2021, also a </span><span>21% increase on the same quarter in 2020 and </span><span>4% up on the last three months of 2020.</span></p> <p><span>MHCLG said that the latest quarterly completion figures were the highest seen since the seasonally adjusted record began in 2000. They were also </span><span>2% above their previous peak in the March quarter of 2007.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>Housing starts during the January to March quarter grew </span><span>36% year-on-year to </span><span>46,010</span><span>, increasing 7% on the previous quarter. This was the highest quarterly starts figure since the March quarter in 2007 but still a 6% drop on that period.</span></p> <p><span>At the same time, yearly data reflected the effects of the pandemic, with starts falling 4% to 140,170 in the year ending March 2021 compared to the previous year. </span></p> <p><span>And during this period, completions slid 11% to 155,960 against the year to March 2020.</span></p> <p><span>MHCLG also …