Planning permissions reach record lows – HBF/Glenigan

Planning permission figures have continued to fall, as the latest Housing Pipeline Report from the Home Builders Federation for Q3 2024 shows.

Approvals for both sites and units have continued their downward trend, with 2,260 sites approved between July to September, a 10% fall on the previous quarter. HBF said this was also the lowest quarterly total since the Pipeline series began in 2006.

HBF said the rolling annual total of 10,180 consented sites was also a “record low”.

While the data, compiled by Glenigan, reveals modest rises in the number of units approved, HBF said the trend here was still overall down. During Q3, approved units rose 2% to 57,356 but this was still 40% below the peak. The rolling annual total of 240,661 units was a 1% improvement on Q2 2024; this was 6% lower than the same period in 2023.

HBF said planning approvals would now need to increase by more than 150% to meet the government’s goal of 370,000 new homes annually.

The North East, Yorkshire & the Humber and the West Midlands saw the most dramatic falls in approvals for housing units, at -61%, -49% and -55% respectively, according to the …