Labour on course to miss its housebuilding pledge by 500,000 homes as Tories blame tax hikes and red tape
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By CLAIRE ELLICOTT WHITEHALL EDITOR
Published: | Updated:
Labour is on course to miss its housebuilding pledge by 500,000 homes, according to analysis of official figures.
The Government is predicted to build fewer than a million homes this parliament - a third short of the 1.5 million it has pledged, according to the Land Value Calculator.
The revelation comes just days after Housing Secretary Angela Rayner admitted there was a ‘slim chance’ that the 1.5million target will be met by 2029.
Estimates of the number of homes built last year have been downgraded to 196,900, meaning England is 223,000 homes behind where it should be to meet the pledge.
This gap grows by 282 homes a day and will exceed 250,000 homes between Christmas and New Year, the land valuation website predicts.
To hit the target would mean building 1,041 homes a day until July 2029 - nearly double the current rate, which is 539 a day, they said.
The number of completions for the year ending June 2026 are the lowest since 2016. Homes granted planning permission are down 30per cent in four years, they added.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Government (MHCLG) cut its estimate of the number of homes added last year from 199,500 to 196,900.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner admitted there was a ‘slim chance’ that the 1.5million target will be met by 2029
It said the total that had been built since the election was 437,900 instead of about 660,000 that should have been built by now to be on track to meet the pledge.
While the researchers acknowledged that housebuilding starts are up 15per cent in the past year, it said about two-thirds was London recovering from a near standstill.
Across the rest of the country, starts were about five per cent, it added, making it unlikely the pledge will be met by July 2029, the predicted end of this parliament.
The researchers added that the number of homes granted planning permission fell 12per cent in the past year to 212,000 and is down 30per cent in four years.
They added that a home that is yet to be granted planning permission today would be unlikely to be completed by 2029.
A spokesman for landvaluecalculator.co.uk said of the target: ‘The Housing Secretary said there was a slim chance. This week’s figures put a number on it.
‘The government is on course to miss its flagship pledge by a third, and to build about half the homes its own assessment says England needs.
‘Starts are up, and ministers are entitled to say so. But most of that rise is London getting back on its feet, completions are the lowest since 2016, and the stock of homes with planning permission has shrunk by 30per cent in four years.
‘Homes that are not consented now will not be finished by 2029.’
Katie Lam, shadow housing secretary, said: ‘Labour are failing abysmally to deliver the new homes the country needs.
'Their tax hikes and red tape have made building unviable. The only building boom under Labour is on illegal traveller sites.
‘In Labour-run London, Sadiq Khan is plumbing depths of housebuilding failure not seen since the Second World War.’
An MHCLG spokesperson said: ‘We’re determined to get this country building again, and with new housing starts up 20per cent compared to this time last year, and a 298per cent increase in London alone, our bold planning reforms are working.
‘We’ve always been clear that delivering 1.5million homes is an ambitious target, but these figures show more homes coming through the pipeline as our reforms take effect.’
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