Turnover in the Dutch construction sector reached a 10-year high last year and the number of bankruptcies fell 5%, the national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

In total, turnover was up over 10%, with small building firms benefiting slightly more from the growth than larger firms, the CBS said.

At the same time, there has been no increase in the number of new homes under construction, despite pledges to ramp up the supply to meet the growing population, the CBS said.

Last year almost 70,000 building permits were handed out, a similar number to in 2017. This means housing construction is still not back at pre-crisis levels, when around 80,000 new permits were given every year.

It takes approximately two years to build a new home once the licence has been awarded, the CBS said.