The HBF Housing Pipeline Report, using data from Glenigan, shows that approved planning permissions for new homes hit the lowest point in a decade
Just 242,610 housing planning approvals were given in 2024, the lowest since 2014. This is a 2% decrease from 2023 and a 26% drop from 2019, 85,000 approvals fewer.
The government’s target requires 370,000 new homes per year
In order to hit government targets, the number of housing planning approvals given must rise by 53%.
The number of approved sites for housing also hit a record low in 2024, with just 9,776 projects given approval. This is the lowest number of approved sites since the Housing Pipeline Report began in 2006.
This also marks the 11th consecutive quarter that the annual total of approved sites has set record lows and is a symptom of the ongoing challenges in the housing sector.
The previous government’s approach to housing policy is cited as a key issue for this, as well as the continued constraints on housebuilding that come from outside of planning issues. While the current government’s approaches to planning reforms have been welcomed, much more needs to be done.
A lack of affordable mortgage lending makes buying houses more difficult, especially for younger people, stifling demand. Housing associations are also less able to take on affordable housing when receiving planning permission is also a key issue for investing in new sites.
The higher number of taxes on new homes being built is also a key issue and causes difficulties for many in the country, particularly SME builders.
Housing planning approvals show “critical crisis levels”
The government’s initiatives will not bring about tangible benefits for years to come, say the HBF.
Further constraints on new developments include a lack of buyers caused by no government support for home ownership, a lack of housing associations, a lack of capacity in local authority planning departments increasing time and expenses for new developments, and a ban on developments in 74 local authority areas due to the high nutrient levels in nearby rivers reducing potential homes by 160,000.
Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the HBF, said: “The latest planning figures show that housing supply in the short and medium terms is at critical crisis levels.
“Whilst we welcome the scale of the government’s housing ambition and the swift action on planning, the industry’s ability produce homes is being stifled by a range of issues outside of its control.
“Increasing housing delivery will require much more than just planning reform. Government has to address broader issues like financing for homebuyers and ensuring there are sufficient providers in the market to take on the affordable homes developers are building – and reduce the crippling levels of taxation being planned and imposed that are making development across swathes of the country unviable.
“In reality planning permissions and house building levels are falling and companies do not have the confidence to invest with SMEs in particular struggling and a growing number unable to continue to operate.
“The industry is keen to press the accelerator and play its part in delivering the homes, but we also need further government intervention is urgently needed to enable it to do so.”
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