Housebuilding slumped in Wales over the past year as the pandemic impacted the sector.
During 2019-20, the number of new dwellings started stood at 6,224 homes but this fell by 31% to 4,314 over the last financial year.
Meanwhile the number of homes completed fell from 6,037 to 4,616 - a drop of 24%.
This all comes at a time of huge concerns about affordable housing in Wales with fears young people are being priced out of communities.
In England there was also a fall in housebuilding although the slump was not as dramatic as that seen in Wales - with an 11% reduction in completions from 175,250 to 155,960.
The figures for North Wales:
County/Starts/Completions
Gwynedd - 193/ 111
Most Read
Anglesey - 99/198
Flintshire - 250/442
Conwy - 173/230
Wrexham - 84/93
Denbighshire - 267/159
Across Wales during 2020-21 the rate of new dwellings started was 3.0 per 1,000 existing dwellings. Denbighshire had the highest figure in North Wales with a rate of 6.1.
Ifan Glyn, director of the Federation of Master Builders Cymru, said: “The 31% drop in new dwellings started in 2020-21 is not a surprise considering the obvious challenges faced last year.
Don’t miss
“However, the long term trend is that we are not building enough homes to meet demand with 70,000 households currently on housing waiting lists in Wales. “Much more needs to be done to remove the barriers that prevent SME house builders from increasing their output.
“The planning process is too complex and expensive and there aren’t enough viable routes to finance for SMEs to get developments off the ground.
“There have been efforts by Welsh Government and others to help, but it hasn’t been enough.
“Drastic action is required to reverse the decline in the number and output of SME house builders. Relying on a very small number of PLCs to deliver the homes we need isn’t working.”
Get business news direct to your inbox
There's no better time to stay up to date with economic and business news from your region. By signing up for our daily newsletters, email breaking news alerts and weekly round-ups from all the major sectors, you get our journalism direct by email. To sign up, find out more and see all of our newsletters, follow the link here
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We continue to make record levels of investment to stop any slowdown in developments caused by the pandemic.
“We have not yet set any new build targets, but are pleased that numbers continue to broadly align with our estimates of housing need and demand.
“Social housing remains our top priority as we work to deliver our commitment to build 20,000 new low-carbon homes for rent in the social sector this government term.”
Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing, Janet Finch Saunders MS said: “This is a housebuilding crisis of the Labour Government’s own making, and that crisis is deepening with each year that the new build target is missed.
“Time and time again, the Labour administration in Cardiff Bay fails to meet their own targets for housebuilding, despite experts denouncing those very targets as inadequate.
“This continued failure is a hammer blow for young people across Wales, particularly at a time they are being priced out of their communities and unable to get onto the housing ladder.
“We need a government that can deliver the homes that Wales needs, and Labour ministers need to get serious about housebuilding, and fast.”