Planning approvals for new homes crash to a 14-year low, with numbers down 36 per cent from 2017 peak

From the Newshound archive · first published 30 September 2026 · last updated 1 October 2026.

Only 45,315 residential units secured planning permission in England in the second quarter of this year — the lowest quarterly figure recorded since 2012. Across the full year to that quarter, just 214,515 properties received permission, an eight per cent drop on the previous year and a staggering 36 per cent below 2017 levels. Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, warned there are 'too few planning permissions coming forward to meet the country's housing needs'. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has launched a new 'Your First Home' scheme offering mortgages at a 2.5 per cent deposit.

The HBF called the figures 'compelling evidence' that a new government equity loan scheme for first-time buyers was urgently needed.

Jefferson blamed 'higher taxes, increasing costs and layers of new policy requirements' for making more and more building sites financially unviable.

Annual permissions are now at their lowest since 2013, with industry leaders warning the housing pipeline is being 'squeezed to historically low levels'.