Drawing on data from Glenigan, the HBF’s Housing Pipeline report, reported the lowest figures since the dataset began in 2006. It showed that only 408 sites for ten homes or more had received approval. Overall, just 54,000 homes received approval.
The figures indicate approvals are failing to keep up the pace needed to hit the 1.5m new homes pledged by the Labour government: that would require 300,000 new homes a year, and the approval data suggests only 200,000 homes will move through the planning stage this year.
The HBF laid the blame squarely on regulatory and tax costs, saying many sites are now unviable for development. It estimates the cost of delivering new homes has risen by £76,000 since 2020.
Nationally, over the past decade, the typical number of 10+ unit sites being consented has halved from around 1,000 per quarter in 2016 to 408 in the most recent quarter. The 408 sites of 10 units or more approved in Q1 2026 is 13% down on last year, with the biggest drop in the South where the number of approvals is down 18%.
Over the last 12 months there has been a steady uptick in the number of the smallest sites receiving planning permission, in response to the positive policy environment. However, these represent 3% of all permissions granted and so will not make a meaningful difference to housing supply. The average permissioned site within the 1-2 unit category is for just over 1.1 homes so in practice these tend to be single dwelling schemes.
Over the past 12 months permission was granted for 216,141 new homes in England, the HBF says, representing just 58% of the combined annual target for housing delivery of 370,000.
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