Official house building statistics say an estimated 18,100 projects were started in July across Great Britain, against only 16,400 in the same month last year.

But this followed a dip in building during June when Jubilee celebrations and the World Cup put projects on hold.

Housebuilding over the last three months, a more reliable measure of the market, is down 5% for new builds.

However, the number of houses that were completed has risen 5% in the last three months.

The figures cover Britain as a whole, but hide a bigger dip in house building in England.

Over the last three months, starts to house builds fell by 16% and the number is down 9% on the same period a year ago.