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Published: 14/11/2024
ONS publishes quarterly data on housing starts and completions carried out by private enterprises, housing associations and local authorities across the UK.
Data is collected from a range of sources, including local authority new build form returns, National House Building Council (NHBC) data, approved inspector data returns, Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme, and District Council Building Control in Northern Ireland.
Housing starts up overall in UK compared with previous quarter
Housing starts in the UK increased in the second quarter of 2024, with 31,660 starts recorded in the latest provisional data from ONS. This was up by 6.4% on the number of dwellings started in the previous quarter.
This figure is 60.3% down on the same quarter in 2023, but this is primarily due to the historically high number of housing starts in 2Q2023, attributed to housebuilders rushing to start building work ahead of the introduction of new regulatory standards.
England accounted for 80.6% of all starts in the UK (25,510), 71.5% of which were by private enterprises. The number of private enterprise starts (18,240) was up by 7% on the previous quarter.
In Wales, the number of starts in 2Q2024 increased 62.9% on 1Q2024, and fell by 19.2% compared with 2Q2023. Scotland saw a 14.4% decrease on a quarterly basis and a 25.9% drop on the year, while Northern Ireland showed a quarterly increase of 13.9% and an annual increase of 14.6%.
All dwellings starts
| 2Q2024 | Change from 1Q2024 | Change from 2Q2023 | |
| UK | 31,660 | 6.4% | -60.3% |
| England | 25,510 | 7.8% | -64.8% |
| Wales | 1,010 | 62.9% | -19.2% |
| Scotland | 3,340 | -14.4% | -25.9% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,800 | 13.9% | 14.6% |
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e
On the completions side, a total number of 51,960 dwellings were completed in 2Q2024, which was 27.8% more than in the previous quarter, and 9.1% more than completions in 2Q2023.
All parts of the UK saw quarterly and annual increases in 2Q2024, apart from an annual fall in Scotland.
All dwellings completions
| 2Q2024 | Change from 1Q2024 | Change from 2Q2023 | |
| UK | 51,960 | 27.8% | 9.1% |
| England | 44,550 | 31.4% | 10.7% |
| Wales | 1,340 | 19.6% | 20.7% |
| Scotland | 4,550 | 4.1% | -6.6% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,520 | 20.6% | 7.8% |
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1b
In England, of the 44,550 dwellings completed in 2Q2024, 77.7% were by private enterprises. Housing associations were responsible for 9,310, or just over one in five completions, while local authorities accounted for 1.4%.
Compared to pre-Covid building activity in England, completions were down 3.8% on 2Q2019.
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e
Chief Economist at BCIS, Dr David Crosthwaite said: ‘On the face of it, both the quarterly housing starts and completions data look positive, although the annual data for starts is a little more concerning.
‘Housing starts by private enterprises, the main provider, are still hovering around Covid levels and are well below the long-term trend, suggesting that delivering the government’s 1.5 million new homes will be a struggle.’
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