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Planning approvals for new homes at record low, figures show

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M0nica Thu 18-Sept-25 18:38:33

I am sure the government will be blamed and that will notbe entirely fair because over two thirds of all houses are sold on the open market and if the housing market is in the doldrums, as it is at the moment and people are not buying houses, then there is no point in the builders building them.

However the main reason people are not buying houses is because of the increased and potentially increasing taxes on home ownes. The first few years one owns a house is almost always a time when money is tight, and if you have done all your calculations but fear further unknown taxes, you hang back

The alternative would be if the government would ramp up the amount of money for housing associations and any other social housing provider, but as they account for less than 30% of all new builds, it would take an enormous increase in funding to use that way of increasing house building.

With government expenditure cuts and more taxes ahead, the government is caught between a rock and a hard place.

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keepingquiet Thu 18-Sept-25 19:05:07

Where have you got this information?

The government does not deal with planning applications- these are local decisions.

Is this figure for the whole country or just certain regions?

The main reason people aren't buying homes is probably because it is very difficult to get mortgages or save up for one.

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Lathyrus3 Thu 18-Sept-25 19:21:14

Well it’s pretty obvious that if builders can’t sell the houses they’ve already built, they’re not going to build any more.
Or apply for planning permission on land they hold for some unspecified future build.

Existing Housing Associations don’t want more properties at the price builders ask and nobody wants to set up new Associations. They’re notoriously difficult to run economically.

Which leaves us with Local Authorities

I’ve an idea. They could take on housing provision. We could call them Council Houses.

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M0nica Thu 18-Sept-25 19:27:05

keepingquiet

Where have you got this information?

The government does not deal with planning applications- these are local decisions.

Is this figure for the whole country or just certain regions?

The main reason people aren't buying homes is probably because it is very difficult to get mortgages or save up for one.

No, but there are things called government statistics that they collect. These include information from local authroities on how many planning applications have been granted and how many houses these involved.

My source is BBC Verify. Here is a quote The number of planning approvals for new homes in England is unacceptable, the new housing secretary has said, after official data showed permission for building homes fell to a record low during Labour's first year in office.

As it says, these figures were commented upon by the minister of Housing, who did not, however, suggest any solution.

Many new house buyers are trading up and I was buying and selling this year, it didn't seem to be getting mortgages that was the problem. the majority of home buyers are not first time buyers, what worried people most was government taxation policy.

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