Politics to blame for lowest new build stats in 20 years

Housing supply risks falling to it’s lowest levels since 2014 according to the latest Housing Pipeline Report from the Home Builders Federation, with fewer than 200,000 new build properties forecast to complete in 2024.

The report highlights falls in metric around the number of new build sites and the number of units granted planning permission as evidence of “increasingly anti-development policy environment and worsening economy.” In a stinging criticism of current government policy, Stewart Baseley executive chairman at the Home Builders Federation described the numbers as indicative of “putting politics and Party management above the interests of those households struggling amidst a worsening housing crisis.”

The number of sites granted planning permission over the past 3 months was the lowest quarterly figure recorded since the Housing Pipeline Report began in 2006. The 2,447 projects represents a 3% fall on Q2 2023, and a 19% fall on Q3 2022. The number of housing units granted permission in England during Q3 of 2023 was down 12% on the previous quarter , at 50,316, and 28% lower than Q3 in 2022.

The medium term prognosis isn’t much better say Home Builders Federation; from October 2022 to  September 2023, the number of housing units granted permission was 245,872, a 15% drop on the previous year and the lowest for a 12-month period since Q3 2015. The report indicates that a 15% drop in approved houses translates into a similar fall in completions, with housing supply falling to its lowest level since 2014.

12 months ago the Government scrapped its own house building targets despite a pledge to build 300,000 homes every year by the 2025.  Commentators have warned that the relaxation of planning laws would result in fewer homes being built. Writing in Today’s Conveyancer earlier this year, Maltese Carton pointed to the Home Builders Federations’ own predictions that scrapping housing targets would result in 100,000 fewer homes. 

The Government would point to the implementation of the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill and funding for brownfield development as evidence of its own commitment to deliver million homes over this Parliament. At the time of the bill receiving Royal Assent Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP said:

“A faster and less bureaucratic planning system with developers held to account. More beautiful homes built alongside GP surgeries, schools and transport links, and environmental enhancement. Communities taking back control of their future with new powers to shape their local area. And our long-term levelling up missions enshrined in law.

Summing up, Baseley adds

“This is the inevitable outcome of several years of anti-growth policy and rhetoric. Businesses have warned for some time that the impact of Government action would be severe but now there is now a mounting body of evidence. If ministers continue with the proposals to rid the planning system of targets and consequences, no matter how it is packaged, it will result in fewer new homes and represents another victory for NIMBY backbenchers.

“Removing the requirement for local housing needs assessments and allowing councils to plan for as few homes as they wish will see housebuilding in some areas collapse with investment in jobs and communities all suffering. Putting politics and Party management above the interests of those households struggling amidst a worsening housing crisis may seem attractive in the short-term but the long-term consequences for the economy and society are horrendous.”