The Agency achieved 64,811 starts against a target of 53,315 over the year to April. Affordable homes completions were 7% ahead of expectations at 56,118 for the year.

Over half of the housing starts were in London, the south east and south west and the extra homes are estimated to have secured thousands of construction jobs.

Before the election the Conservatives described the agency as bloated and made no secret that they believed the quango was ripe for cuts.

Last month the agency was forced to freeze future spending, after massive budget cuts to tackle the country’s deficit. It is waiting to hear more about its fate in next week’s emergency Budget.

Chief executive of the HCA, Sir Bob Kerslake, said: “These figures further demonstrate what we believe has been a successful first year.

“This is an excellent result, considering the extremely fragile market, and illustrates how we are making a significant impact in areas facing the greatest challenges in maintaining a supply of affordable housing.

“I am especially pleased with the progress made on Kickstart and LANB (Local Authority New Build), which show how we were able to respond swiftly to challenges presented by the economic downturn.”

He said that whatever the outcome of next week’s Budget, it was clear that with less public funding available to support housing, the agency would need to focus efforts where they had most impact at local level.

Sir Bob added that the agency would continue to focus on driving value for money in key areas such as affordable housing.’

“We will certainly be no less committed to making sure we not only continue to hit targets, but, in this new era of localism, also continue to support our partners in achieving our shared ambition for creating high quality places,” he said.

HCA housing starts and completions