House builders continue to deliver

16 Nov, 2017

House builders continue to deliver

Government figures released today show:

• 227k new homes last year - up 74% in past four years

• 16/17 saw the 2nd highest number of homes provided this century

• 578k more homes in England today than three years ago

• Increases set to continue with planning permissions at record levels

Government figures released today show that 217,350 homes were added to the housing stock in England in the last financial year confirming the industry is well on track to smash the ‘one million homes’ target set by Government – helping address the country’s housing crisis and providing an economic boost to UKPLC.

The house building industry has now delivered a 74% increase in supply in the past four years; and with the number of planning permissions granted, a strong indicator of future build levels, at the highest rate on record, increases look set to continue.  The figures demonstrate that the industry is responding to Government policies aimed at stimulating supply.

The new figures show:

  • Total housing supply April 16 - March 17 was 227,170 up 14%;
  • Once demolitions are taken off there were 217,350 net additions to the housing stock, up 15% on last year and up 74% in four years
  • 183,570 new build homes were built, up 12% on last year and up 55% in past four years
  • Due to planning reform housebuilders increased the number of conversions and changes of use completed to 17,751

Today’s figures mean that by the end of March 2017, there were 577,690 more homes in England than there were three years ago.

The industry is now calling on Government to use next week’s Budget to deliver further improvements to the policy environment to allow the industry to sustain this fastest rate of growth on record.

The industry is calling on Government to;

  • Provide certainty on the future of Help to Buy post 2021. The scheme has been absolutely key to the big increases in supply today’s figures confirm
  • Remove barriers for SMEs, start-ups and specialist retirement builders so they can play their part in building more homes
  • Push forward proposals in the White Paper to improve the planning system and reduce delays that can add years to when builders can get on and build granted permissions

Speaking today, Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation said;

“The housing crisis built up over several decades and will take many years to fix.   Today’s statistics illustrate the huge progress being made, and the rapid rate at which builders have responded to positive measures from Government to deliver more and more new homes. It is no coincidence that since reform of the planning system in 2012 and the introduction of the phenomenally successful Help to Buy scheme in 2013, housing supply has increase by a massive 74%.

“The industry is committed to even greater levels of investment to deliver the high quality new homes the country needs to address our housing crisis. As well as delivering much needed homes the industry is also creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs boosting local economies across the country.

“The challenge now is to expand the number of housing suppliers delivering new homes. Government needs to help create the conditions for more specialist developers and smaller firms to invest and grow their output while continuing with the positive environment that has seen larger developers drive increases in supply. Moving forward, the house building industry will play a key role in building a new Britain and driving our post-Brexit economy.” 

As well as providing desperately needed new homes, the new figures also reveal the economic boost the industry is giving UKPLC.  Every home built supports an estimated 4.3 jobs, and provides investment in infrastructure and social amenities – benefitting local economies across the country.

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For media enquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact Steve Turner on 020 7960 1606 or 07919 307760. Steve.turner@hbf.co.uk     

Notes to editors

  1. The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the representative body of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s member firms account for some 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk