One year of Labour: housing figures show work to do

New figures showing net additional dwellings in England since Labour came to power indicate the government still has major inroads to make if it is to meet its 1.5 million new homes target during this Parliament.

EPC registrations data⁽¹⁾, which provide a proxy estimate of new build completions, show 186,600 (rounded to the nearest 100) homes were completed between 9 July 2024, when the current Parliament opened, and 15 June 2025.

With the housing target a central pledge of the government’s manifesto and policy announcements since taking office, its faltering progress in getting completions on the board will no doubt be a source of disappointment.

Dr David Crosthwaite, Chief Economist at BCIS, said: ‘To hit 1.5 million new homes in five years, the government needs to be averaging 300,000 per year. They acknowledged early on that there will need to be growth in the numbers towards the end of the Parliament, but the first year’s results looks like it’s going to put a lot of pressure on the next four years.’

Estimated net additional dwellings in England (newer estimates rounded to nearest 100)

^{Source: MHCLG}

As the data for the latest period, covering the life of the Parliament so far, doesn’t represent a full year, rather 94% of a year, we’ve compared this figure to 94% of the total recorded for the 2023/24 financial year, which covers EPC registrations in the year prior to Labour taking office.

^{Source: MHCLG}

Dr Crosthwaite said: ‘This estimate shows a decrease of more than 20,500 net additions to the country’s dwellings stock, and we’re heading towards a total for the year that is likely to come in some way under the 300,000 average needed.’

On a regional basis, only housebuilders in the north east have shown an increase on the 2023/24 financial year, with an 8% rise in EPC registrations. In Yorkshire and the Humber, registrations were down by more than one-fifth.

^{Source: MHCLG}

New build dwelling starts and completions data, which is more accurate but lags behind EPC data, gives us a picture up to the end of 2024. That dataset shows housing starts in the UK were 31% lower in 2024 than in pre-pandemic 2019, and completions were down by 14% over the same period.

Dr Crosthwaite said: ‘The government has made housing a flagship issue for this Parliament, but policy momentum now needs to be matched by on-the-ground progress across the country. Without a sustained lift in both starts and delivery capacity, the 1.5 million homes target will be increasingly difficult to reach.’

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One year of Labour

More commentary on the government’s first year in power:

One year of Labour: an infrastructure snapshot

One year of Labour: BCIS chief economist says government is ‘turning a corner’

One year of Labour: an economic snapshot

One year of Labour: a carbon snapshot

(1) UK Gov – Housing supply: indicators of new supply, England: January to March 2025 – here