Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million new homes set to fall short by 500,000

The target means building an average of 300,000 new homes a year – a figure not achieved since the 1970s

Just over 200,000 homes have been built in England this year, casting doubt on Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million by the next election.

Some 204,000 houses were made between January and December, based on registrations for energy performance certificates (EPC), which are required in all new builds.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week showed figures were short of the average 300,000 homes that would have to be built each year to hit the government’s target.

The data only runs from the week commencing 5 January until 14 December, but new registrations are consistently low around Christmas.

There were an average of 4,079 EPC registrations each week in England this year, slightly lower than the mean 4,206 recorded in 2024, which also fell from 4,360 in 2023.

Planning permission granted for new builds, meanwhile, fell 15 per cent to a 12-year low, new figures show.

England is building around 200,000 homes per year, figures show (PA)

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is expected to issue a complete report for the quarter towards the end of January.

Planning applications were also in decline according to the latest data, published this week.

Permission was given for just 208,000 homes in the 12 months to September, down 15 per cent from the 245,000 in the year to September 2024.

The latest provisional figures were the lowest since 2013, when 205,000 units were granted planning permission. Figures provided were rounded to the nearest thousand.

A spokesperson for the department told The Times that the latest housebuilding and planning approvals data “shine a light on the broken planning system we inherited”.

She said: “Fixing this won’t happen overnight. We’ve already completely overhauled the system to turn this around and build 1.5 million homes.”

Steve Reed vowed to ‘go further than ever before’ to build 1.5m homes (PA Wire)

The department on Tuesday vowed that hundreds of thousands of homes would be built thanks to changes to planning rules as it launched a major consultation on a revamped National Planning Policy Framework.

Reforms would build on amendments made last year to restore mandatory housing targets and prioritise building on brownfield sites.

Housing secretary Steve Reed said: “We’ve already laid the groundwork to get Britain building, but our planning overhaul was only the first step to fix the housing crisis we face. And today I’m going further than ever before to hit 1.5 million homes and place the key to homeownership into the hands of thousands more hardworking people and families.”