The number of new homes given planning approval in England during Q1 2025 was 39,170 – the lowest number of quarterly approvals since 2012 and the third lowest since the data set was started in 2006.
The figures are included in the latest Housing Pipeline report from the Home Builders Federation, which shows that the current government is set to fall well short of its planned 1.5 million homes target under the current parliament.
The rolling annual number of units approved in the year to Q1 2025 was just 225,067, a 7% drop on the previous 12-month period and the lowest 12-monthly outturn recorded since 2013.
The figure is just 61% of the 370,000 number the Government has cited as an ambition to achieve, through cumulative local authority housing targets across the country.
The number of projects, or sites, approved in Q1 2025 was 2,010, an 18% drop on the previous quarter, the worst quarter since reporting began some 20 years ago, representing less investment in new sites than during the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid lockdowns.
The rolling annual number of projects approved in the year to Q1 2025 was 9,275, itself a new record low and is the twelfth quarter in a row that the annual rolling number has been the lowest since the report began recording.
“The latest planning figures are disastrous for an industry and a Government looking to increase housing supply over the coming years,” said Neil Jefferson (Chief Executive of the HBF).
With current supply flatlining and permissions for homes to be built over the next few years plummeting, unless urgent interventions are made, there seems little chance of us building the homes we know are desperately needed, he said.
“Whilst the government’s ambition and the swift action on planning were very welcome, increasing housing delivery requires much more than good intentions and planning reform.
“Ministers have to address the fact that potential home owners are unable to buy due to the lack of affordable mortgage lending and the absence, for the first time in decades, of any Government support scheme (for first-time buyers).”
Similarly, it needs to ensure Housing Associations are financially able to purchase the affordable homes that house builders deliver. Without a functioning market for private or affordable homes, industry can’t deliver them, Jefferson said.
“Planning permissions and house building levels will not increase unless ministers work with industry and tackle the issues preventing companies from pressing the accelerator and investing in the sites, skills and supply chains needed to build the homes the country needs.”
Government set to miss targets
The new data comes after property group Savills warned that housing delivery is set to fall despite recent planning reform as demand for new homes remains subdued.
Using recent build data as a guide, the group forecasts there will be roughly 840,000 new homes completions in the five years to 2028/29, well short of the government target of 1.5 million.
Falling planning consents in the last three years have reduced the pipeline of new homes which can be delivered in the near term, while recent planning reform will take time to have an impact on completions, it said.
It cautioned that subdued demand for new homes will also remain a barrier to growth, as housebuilders will only build where they see demand for the finished homes.
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