England Delivers 204,000 Homes, Missing Labour's 300,000 Annual Target
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 16
England Delivers 204,000 Homes, Missing Labour's 300,000 Annual Target
1 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 16
Summary
204,000 new homes were delivered in England in the 12 months to March, leaving Labour well short of the 300,000 a year pace needed for its 1.5 million-home parliamentary pledge.
EPC data tracked by BBC Verify shows the gap opening with only about three years left until the next general election, making an already ambitious target harder to recover.
£300,000 average house prices in 2025—almost eight times average full-time earnings—along with high mortgage rates are constraining demand, while builders also cite labour shortages and higher material costs.
£39 billion over 10 years has been earmarked for 300,000 social and affordable homes, but analysts say a major expansion in council and social housing would need roughly £13 billion more in annual state subsidy.
Greater Manchester under Andy Burnham posted 3.8 new homes per 1,000 people from 2018 to 2025, while the city of Manchester reached 5.3, underscoring both some local progress and the scale of the national challenge.
With building costs soaring and half the UK unviable for developers, how can Britain build its way out of the housing crisis?
Britain needs 1.5 million new homes but lacks the builders. Is the crippling skills gap the real housing crisis?
Andy Burnham vows a post-war council house boom. Can he succeed where decades of policy have failed to stop their decline?
Can England Build 1.5 Million Homes? The Urgent Shortfall, Causes, and Solutions
Overview
England is facing a major housebuilding challenge as it works to meet the ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes. The government is actively pursuing reforms to speed up progress, and recent data shows a 49% increase in planning permission requests for new homes outside London between January and June 2025. This rise in applications is seen as a positive sign, suggesting that construction activity could increase in the coming months and years. The government's efforts to boost confidence among developers are helping drive this momentum, which is crucial for closing the gap toward the national housing goal.