Planning permissions hit new low

The number of new homes given planning approval in England during Q1 2025 was 39,170 – the lowest number of quarterly approvals since 2012 and the third lowest since the data set was started in 2006. They represent a 55% drop on the previous quarter and a 32% drop on Q1 2024.

The figures come from the latest Housing Pipeline report from the Home Builders Federation, based on data from Glenigan.

The rolling annual number of units approved in the year to Q1 2025 was just 225,067, a 7% drop on the previous 12 month period and the lowest 12-monthly outturn recorded since 2013. HBF says that the figure is just 61% of the 370,000 number the government has cited an ambition to achieve, through cumulative local authority housing targets across the country.

The number of projects, or sites, approved in Q1 2025 was 2,010, an 18% drop on the previous quarter, the worst quarter since reporting began some 20 years ago. The rolling annual number of projects approved in the year to Q1 2025 was 9,275, another record low, and the twelfth quarter in a row that the annual rolling number has been the lowest …