Estate agencies pour cold water on Labour’s house building promises
Both Knight Frank and Yopa say Keir Starmer stands little chance of delivering 1.5 millon homes in five years, despite promising a 'war on planners' to 'un-gum' the system.
Two leading estate agencies have slammed Labour claims that it can will build 1.5 million news homes should the party gain power after the General Election.
The criticisms come from Knight Frank and Yopa, who both say politicians of all colours have little chance of reaching such an ambitious target.
The challenges are highlighted by NHBC figures released this week that show a 58% decline in newbuild registrations during the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2023, and HBF figures reveal record lows in planning approvals.
Record low
Knight Frank has crunched raw planning data and says despite Tory promises to ‘get Britain building’ planning decisions granted for major developments of ten homes or more across England fell to a fresh record low of 3,722 during the first three months of this year.

Anna Ward, Associate in Residential Development Research at Knight Frank, says: “House prices have surged by around 20% since the last election in December 2019, making affordability a hot political issue ahead of the July 4th general election.
“Both parties have promised to ramp up housebuilding if elected, but their pledges of 1.5 or 1.6 million homes will be hard to achieve based on current supply indicators.”
Yopa has also completed research into the newbuild sector, revealing that Labour, should it come to power, would have to revolutionise the planning process to reach its 300,000 a year target. The Tories managed on average to build 188,194 a year.
Controversial
Writing for Inside Housing yesterday, Keir Starmer (main image) acknowledged this, promising a ‘war on planners’.
“It’s only by reforming our planning regulations that we can unlock the economic potential of the country,” he said.
“I know this is controversial. I know, if we are successfully elected, our plans will be resisted But it is simply not fair that determined blockers can gum up the entire building supply chain and stop our country from growing.”