More than 217,000 new homes were completed in 2017

At least 350,000 new homes were granted planning permission in 2017, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and construction industry data company Glenigan.

The firms’ latest ‘Housing Pipeline’ report suggests that housing supply has increased by 74 per cent in the past four years, while more than 217,000 new homes were completed in 2017.

Housebuilders say this means that the industry is on track to deliver the government’s previous target of one million homes between 2015 and 2020. However, they added, ‘further improvements’ to the planning system and the business environment for small builders will be required to meet the prime minister’s target of delivering 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, which was set out in the 2017 Autumn Budget.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman at HBF, said that “the record number of applications being submitted and approved is a clear demonstration of the industry’s commitment to ramping up housing supply even further than the unprecedented increases of the last four years. To build more homes, more land needs to come through the planning system more quickly, and to encompass a broader range of sites. SME builder numbers are down by more than 80 per cent in recent decades as layer upon layer of legislation has worked against small firms and start-ups as well as those delivering specialist housing such as retirement homes.”

The ‘Housing Pipeline Q4 2017’ report can be found here: 

Author: Claudia Dietz

 

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