House building sinks to lowest level for eight years, says ONS
ONS figures show Labour has a very big mountain to climb if wants to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, given the slump in housebuilding this year.
Labour’s plans to ramp up house building during the next five years have been dealt a blow after official figures just out reveal that the number of homes built this year will only attain half the 300,000 promised by the new Government.
The ONS figures show that 37,140 were built between January and March 2024, which puts the UK on track to build some 153,000 this year, the lowest since 2016 and half both Labour and the Tory’s own annual targets.
Also, this includes council and housing association-built homes so out of the 37,100, just 26,190 or 70% have been constructed by private housebuilders so far.
These figures show that Labour has a huge mountain to climb if it is to deliver it’s promised 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
Its latest initiative to try and get there was announced yesterday – a new ‘expert group’ that will speed up the delivery of stalled housing projects which, it is claimed, includes some 200 sites where some 300,000 homes could be built.
Failure
“For far too long the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes has been held back by a failure to make sure the development system is working as it should,” says Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
“This government has a moral obligation to do everything within our power to build the homes that people desperately need and we won’t hesitate to intervene where we need to.
“Our New Homes Accelerator will quickly identify blockages, fix problems and support local authorities and developers to get shovels in the ground.”
But leading SME developer Pocket Living says Labour should be encouraging its sector to grow because “we simply no longer have enough builders new homes in this country” saying that a planning system shake-up and this new accelerator programme will not in themselves get more homes built.
Paul Rickard, MD of Pocket Living, says: “Yes, the volume housebuilders have a key role to play in increasing output, but what we really need is an SME housebuilder renaissance to get the sector back to the kind of delivery levels last seen in the 1980s where we had 12,500 SME housebuilders compared to 2,500 today”.
I knew that the number of house builders had declined, just not how dramatic the decline has been.
If there is less competition, why build small houses? Four and five bed detached houses sell for higher prices and are much more profitable to build. There are enough people seeking this type of accommodation.
Grab the popcorn, the government clown show will only get funnier. The rolling average is sub 150k and theirs is now more like 400k and climbing now.
If houses don’t sell at the right price, developers won’t build them. SMEs are bailing due to all the ridiculous nitrates, biodiversity obsessions and planners. Builders are all retiring as the young prefer being an influencer rather than a spread. They’ll be lucky to build 750k in their term, but invite more than that into the country, so you do the math.