Approvals fall to record lows – HBF/Glenigan

Last year saw planning approvals for homes hit a decade low, according to the Home Builders Federation.

HBF’s latest Housing Pipeline Report, with data from Glenigan, shows that in 2024, only 242,610 units received planning permission, the lowest total for any calendar year since 2014. This is a 2% decrease on 2023 and a 26% drop from the peak of 2019.

This, HBF said, represented a loss of more than 85,000 annual approvals.

HBF also recorded the lowest number of approved sites since it started reporting in 2006. In 2024, 9,776 projects gained permission. And the rolling annual total of approved sites has reached new historic lows for 11 consecutive quarters, “underscoring the ongoing challenges facing the housing sector,” HBF commented.

According to the data, planning approvals must rise 53% to achieve the government’s target of 370,000 new homes per year.

HBF said the low numbers “largely” reflected the previous government’s approach to planning but also the “significant barriers” that remain to housebuilding.

It commended Labour’s “swift action” in tackling deficiencies in the planning system, however, “the constraints on housebuilding are much broader than simply planning”.

Other challenges include – as highlighted by HBF – a …