Stroud is only getting two thirds of the homes it needs as assessed by the Government, according to analysis by the BBC.

House-building in Stroud has only surpassed pre-recession levels once, the analysis also found.

The BBC’s Shared Data Unit has examined housing data across local council areas to paint a picture of the UK’s housing supply.

It found that since the financial crisis an average of 429 homes were built in Stroud per year, compared to the Government's assessment of housing need of 635 per year.

However the Government does not set concrete house-building targets and instead advises councils to set their own estimates based on their local plans.

Stroud District Council itself estimates 456 houses need to be built in the area per year in its local plan, meaning that on average the district is close to getting nearly all of the houses it needs under its target.

But last year only 356 homes were built in Stroud.

Stroud joins 80 per cent of local authority areas in England where the number of homes built last year falls short of the number of homes the Government estimates they need.

The BBC also compared the number of houses being built in England now with the number built just before the recession hit in 2007-08.

534 homes were built in Stroud that year, with only the number built in 2014-15 (573) surpassing that level.

In response to the analysis, the district council has blamed the shortfall on developers for not building, rather than a lack of planning permission for new houses. 

“Stroud District Council has given planning permission for approximately 5,500 homes which have not yet been built by developers," said the council's leader Doina Cornell. 

“In the current Local Plan for development until 2031, Stroud District Council has been told by the Government to find sites for at least 11,400 homes, of which 5,120 have been built and 1,400 have been allocated. Currently the target is to build 456 homes per year in the Stroud District.

“The National Planning Policy Framework released by the Government in July ups the target to at least 638 homes per annum which is very challenging given the amount of Stroud District land in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Severn floodplain, and the historic delivery rates by the house building industry.

“Stroud District Council was the first Gloucestershire council to get its Local Plan for development up to 2031 signed off and how we meet this new target will be discussed by the Environment Committee in September, before public consultation from October to December.”