Data released by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) showed 2,401 affordable home sales were made between January and March 2015.

There was an increase in the number of unsold homes to 4,999 during the same period.

There were 4,286 affordable home ownership completions in the current quarter, it reported. This brought the total completions for the 2014/15 financial year to 10,565.

The HCA quarterly survey is based on responses from private providers of social housing who own or manage more than 1,000 homes.

Jonathan Walters, Deputy Director of Regulation at the HCA, said the sector was financially resilient amid recent reforms.

The social housing sector had more than enough finance available at present, with £12.5bn in undrawn facilities and a further £4.8bn held in cash, he said.

“We continue to monitor the sector’s financial health, and that of individual providers, closely and overall, the sector remains financially strong,” he added.

“Income collection data suggests that the sector is continuing to manage the impact reform with most providers currently outperforming their business plans. The regulator will continue to monitor income collection as universal credit is rolled out.”