The number built between April 2016 and April 2017 was 27,700 up on the previous year - the highest since the financial crash of 2007/08 - and with planning permissions at record levels, the surge is set to continue.

Mrs May, who has pledged to take personal charge of the Government’s response to the housing crisis, said she was “pleased” to see the figures 

Speaking on a visit to the Stonegrove and Spur Road estate in Edgware, north London, she added: “The Government is clear, we want more people to have the security of a roof over their head, their own home for themselves and their family.

“We’ve already set out in our housing white paper earlier this year the changes that we want to see made and the emphasis we want to see on housing.

“If you look at examples of the estate that I have seen today, actually in improving the estate they have also provided more homes for people.

“So this can be done, it can be done in a whole variety of ways. What I want to see though is, we know there are lots of planning permissions out there, I want to see the houses being built.”

“For decades we simply have not been building enough homes, nor have we been building them quickly enough, and we have seen prices rise.

“The number of new homes being delivered each year has been increasing since 2010, but there is more we can do.

“We must get back into the business of building the good quality new homes for people who need them most. That is why I have made it my mission to build the homes the country needs and take personal charge of the Government’s response.”

The Home Builders Federation said the figures showed the industry was well on track to “smash” the target of building a million new homes.

Executive chairman of the HBF Stewart Baseley said: “Today’s statistics illustrate the huge progress being made, and the rapid rate at which builders have responded to positive measures from Government to deliver more and more new homes.

“It is no coincidence that since reform of the planning system in 2012 and the introduction of the phenomenally successful Help to Buy scheme in 2013, housing supply has increased by a massive 74 per cent.”

The “net additional dwellings” figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government include 183,570 new-build homes completed in 2016/17, along with 5,680 conversions and 37,190 changes in use from agricultural, business or storage to residential.

The total was reduced by almost 10,000 demolitions.

The intervention by Mrs May comes after Chancellor Philip Hammond hinted at help for first-time buyers in his Budget, but warned there was no “silver bullet” to fix the housing market.

On Wednesday he told reporters: “There isn’t a single thing that solves the challenge of affordability in the housing market - we are a crowded island and this is a very complex challenge.

“But we have done a lot of work on this and next week we will start to set out our plan for addressing the housing challenges in this country, making sure that the next generation has the same opportunities as their parents did for home-ownership and the accumulation of personal wealth through assets.”

The Government announced that housing association debt was being taken off the balance sheet, in an accounting change 

The PM’s official spokesman said: “The statistics that have been published this morning show progress. There are 217,000 new homes. That is the highest level of net additions since the depths of the recession. It’s also the first time in almost a decade that the 200,000 milestone has been reached.

“This means more people with a roof over their heads, a place to call home, but there is a huge amount still to do and we must do it quickly, and the Prime Minister acknowledges that.”