New home planning permissions continue to fall - HBF

The latest Housing Pipeline Report from HBF and Glenigan shows that in the 12 months to March 2024, the number of new homes and sites given planning permission has continued to fall sharply.

The year to March 2024 saw the fewest new housing sites consented than during any 12-month period since the data collection commenced in 2006, even lower than the period following the global financial crisis.

HBF says the figures illustrate the challenge a new government faces to increase housing supply in the coming years “highlighting the need for ministers to work closely with the industry to fix the planning system, provide effective assistance to prospective first-time buyers and unblock the estimated 160,000 new homes still unnecessarily held up by a government quango’s nutrient neutrality rules.”

The report, which includes data for the beginning of 2024, shows:

• The number of units achieving planning permission in the year ending Q1 2024 was 236,644, the lowest 12-month total for almost a decade - since Q3 2014. Year on year, this is a 13% drop, and 22% on the year to Q1 2022.
• The number of units approved during Q1 2024 – 53,862 – is the lowest quarterly total …