16 COMMENT
DOWNTURN IN APPROVALS Perhaps of more immediate concern was the news that the number of new home building sites given planning approval in England during Q1 2025 was the lowest since reporting began some 20 years ago, representing less investment in new sites than during the global fi nancial crisis and the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Approval was given for just 2,064 sites in Q1, a 16% drop from the previous quarter. The rolling annual number of projects approved in the year to Q1 2025 was 9,342, itself a new record low and is the 12th quarter in a row that the annual rolling number has been the lowest since the report began recording In total, approval for just 45,521 new homes was given in Q1, the lowest number of quarterly approvals since 2012, a 37% drop on the previous quarter and 21% drop on Q1 2024.
The rolling annual number of units approved in the year to Q1 2025 was just 233,695, a 5% drop on the previous 12-month period and the lowest 12-month outturn recorded since 2014. he fi gure is just 3 of the 3, number the Government has cited as an ambition to achieve through cumulative local authority housing targets across the country. he fi gures starly illustrate the urgent need for the Government to address problems in the housing market and the ongoing barriers to housing supply if they are to get anywhere near the 1.5 million homes target.
Estimates suggest that we are currently delivering around a maximum of 200,000 new homes a year, meaning we are already 100,000 behind the rate needed to hit the new build target. With housing construction levels fl atlining at best and planning permissions for new sites and new homes continuing to fall, the likelihood of imminent increases seems remote.
While the planning system changes already announced are very welcome, housing supply is determined by several key factors. Without further policy interventions, the industry will struggle to deliver on the Government’s wishes to build more homes.
PLAN FOR GROWTH
Neil Jefferson, chief executive at the Home Builders Federation, said: “The latest planning fi gures are disastrous. ith current supply fl atlining and permissions for new homes plummeting, there seems little chance of us building the homes we know are desperately needed. 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
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
due to the lack of affordable mortgage lending and the absence, for the fi rst time in decades, of any Government support scheme for fi rst time buyers. imilarly, it needs to ensure Housing Associations are fi nancially able to purchase the affordable homes housebuilders deliver. Without a functioning market for private or affordable homes it is impossible for industry to deliver them.
“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.” The HBF wants Ministers to deliver on fi ve key points: • Bring forward effective support for fi rst time buyers. revious governments for the past 25 years have assisted fi rst time buyers with equity loans or shared equity mortgage support, and for more than 60 years, governments have supported home ownership in other ways.
• Address the long-term problems in the ection ffordable ousing market, which sees tens of thousands of new homes designated for ocial and ffordable ents going unacquired by Housing Associations.
• esolve the ongoing delays and uncertainty caused by the failure of the uilding afety egulator to meet its service requirements. The new egulator has been unable to deal with its workload, leading to investment in new apartment blocks collapsing because of the uncertainty.
• peed up the planning process. While the planning framework changes delivered by the Government have helped to create a more progressive planning system, the day to day operation of planning services at a local level continues to frustrate.
• ecognise the impact that a suite of new taxes, levies and policy costs is having on the viability and deliverability of new housing. ince 22, builders have seen costs of government interventions balloon with a new industry specifi c esidential roperty Developers Tax, Biodiversity Net Gain, Nutrient Neutrality charges and multiple regulatory changes. he government recently confi rmed the introduction next year of a new levy on house building, and launched a consultation on a new Build Out Tax, empowering councils to impose additional costs on builders if construction rates decline due to market slowdowns.
A NEW WAY OF WORKING
An example of a different approach to development, which is already paying off, is being delivered by Edaroth in its work with social landlords lie aven ousing rust in urrey and ristol City Council, where previously unviable parcels of land are being transformed into high quality, sustainable homes. Many of the sites had previously been overlooked by the private sector due to their complexity, size or location.
Their approach brings land, planning, design, manufacturing and construction together into a single, coordinated development service. It is proving adept at unlocking publicly-owned land through delivering homes that are ready for long-term public ownership. As production increases, costs should come down as they have in other sectors such as automotive and consumer electronics. By using an offsite manufacturing model, they have been able to deliver precision-built homes (in half the time of traditional construction methods that exceed national space standards and achieve net-zero performance in use, along with 100-year structural warranties.
The approach not only increased delivery speed and quality, but also dramatically reduced whole life maintenance and operational costs, critical for social landlords managing long term assets. Central to the success of this model is offsite manufacturing. By designing homes in a digital environment and manufacturing them in controlled factory settings, they can achieve greater consistency, precision and speed.
If more companies and social landlords are able to adopt similar approaches, then there is hope they can play a signifi cant part in bridging the gap to the Government’s target for new homes. In response to the Chancellor’s pending eview, Kate enderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “This is a transformational package for social housing and will deliver the right conditions for a decade of renewal and growth. It is the most ambitious Affordable Homes Programme we’ve seen in decades, and alongside the long-term certainty on rents, will kickstart a generational boost in the delivery of new social homes. “This package demonstrates the Government understands the foundational difference a secure and affordable home makes to people’s lives. Housing associations look forward to working in partnership with the Government and with the Deputy Prime Minister, who has tirelessly championed social housing.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
