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New homes: What's happened to the government's housebuilding target? New homes: What's the new government's housebuilding target?
(about 1 month later)
The latest housebuilding figures show the government has not yet met its annual target to build 300,000 new homes in England. The government aims to build 1.5 million more homes in the next five years, helped by planning reforms, the release of green belt land and the reintroduction of mandatory housing targets for local authorities.
In July 2023, the Levelling Up Committee of MPs warned, external that the government was not on track to meet the target, but said it might still fulfil its other goal to build one million homes during this Parliament. Under the motto "get Britain building again", the new Labour government has started laying out its plans for how it will deliver more housing.
What is the government's housebuilding target?What is the government's housebuilding target?
The target, set out in the 2019 Conservative manifesto, is for "300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s". The target, set out in the 2024 Labour manifesto, is for "1.5 million new homes over the next parliament".
The figure, which is for England, was unveiled by then-Chancellor Philip Hammond in November 2017. The figure, which is for England, was unveiled by now Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his party conference in October 2023.
"Experts agree that 300,000 new homes a year would start to make inroads on the affordability of housing," he told BBC News at the time. "We'll get shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky and build the next generation of Labour new towns," he said.
The manifesto also pledged to build at least a million more homes by the end of this Parliament, which will be December 2024 at the latest - five years since the current Parliament first sat. In the manifesto, Labour also pledged to update the National Policy Planning Framework, restore mandatory housing targets, and deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
And the government proposed changes to the planning system to help build more houses, but was accused of watering these down after some Conservative MPs threatened to rebel. To achieve these, they'll prioritise building on previously-developed brownfield land first but, where necessary, also release currently-protected green belt land of lower quality.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been trying to introduce binding targets for local councils, but the government said: "Housing targets remain, but are a starting point, with new flexibilities to reflect local circumstances." What is the 'grey belt' and how many homes could Labour build on it?
How close has the government come to meeting its targets? What is the 'grey belt' and how many homes could Labour build on it?
In 2019-20 there were 248,591 "net additional dwellings", but this fell to 217,754 in 2020-21, partly due to the pandemic. How close did the previous government come to meeting its targets?
In both 2021-22 and 2022-23 the figures were just under 235,000 a year. The previous Conservative government had two housebuilding targets - 300,000 new homes a year and one million new homes over the whole Parliament.
"Net additional dwellings" is the headline figure for housebuilding, and includes houses being converted to flats or commercial buildings switching to domestic use, as well as new builds. It also reflects demolished houses. Figures for housebuilding in 2023-24 are yet to be released but annual figures, external for 2021-22 and 2022-23 were just short of 235,000 each year.
"The government will miss [its] 300,000-homes-a-year manifesto pledge by a country mile," former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told MPs, external on 10 May 2022. This is in terms of "net additional dwellings" - a housebuilding measure that includes newbuild housing and properties converted for domestic use, while subtracting demolished homes.
He predicted that 2019-20 total of 248,591 would be "the high watermark of the number of homes built in this country for several years to come". In 2019-20 that reached a peak of 248,590 but has fallen since, partly due to the pandemic.
In terms of the target of building one million homes during this Parliament, 935,204 additional homes have been built in England since April 2019. Labour say that the fall was also due to the scrapping of the mandatory housebuilding targets for local authorities in December 2022, so they reintroduced those in their first month in office.
However, that overstates the total, as this Parliament did not begin until 19 December 2019. The government has confirmed to BBC Verify that its target is also in terms of net additional dwellings - not housing starts - although Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook had contradicted this on 31 July.
The total built since April 2020 is 686,613, although this ignores houses built between December 2019 and March 2020. "We said we'd start 1.5 million new homes over the course of the parliament, over that 5 years. That's the target that you should measure us on," he told Sky News.
In terms of the last government's target of building one million homes over the course of the Parliament, at the end of May they published a report, external confirming that the target had been met.
How many homes were being built previously?How many homes were being built previously?
On average, almost 250,000 homes were built in England in each year of the 1970s. The new government's 1.5 million homes target suggests that there will be an average of 300,000 net new homes each year - something that hasn't happened in the past.
But there was also a great deal of demolition, largely due to slum clearance, which made the overall net figure just under 200,000 a year. In the 1960s, external, while there were more than 300,000 newly-built homes each year, there were also a lot of demolitions, largely due to slum clearances, which meant that net gains were at a similar level as now.
Former miners' cottages being demolished in Carlin How in North Yorkshire in June 1978Former miners' cottages being demolished in Carlin How in North Yorkshire in June 1978
Former miners' cottages being demolished in Carlin How in North Yorkshire in June 1978Former miners' cottages being demolished in Carlin How in North Yorkshire in June 1978
The 1990s saw many fewer homes built but also fewer demolitions, taking the overall average to about 150,000 a year. Net housing supply decreased in the following decades, external and hit a record low of just over 150,000 in the 1990s.
This annual figure then rose until the 2007-08 financial crisis, when housebuilding stalled, before recovering in the mid-2010s. The annual figure then rose until the 2007-08 financial crisis, when housebuilding stalled, before recovering in the mid-2010s.
What is the government doing to boost housing affordability?What is the government doing to boost housing affordability?
Even hitting the annual target wouldn't necessarily address the current housing shortages if they are the wrong sort of properties, according to housing charity Shelter. Housing charity Shelter has warned that the new government risks not meeting its target and not addressing the actual housing challenges unless it puts affordability at the heart of its building approach.
"There is no point in building 300,000 homes a year if the vast majority are overpriced flats and houses that people on average or lower incomes can't afford," it said. "Any new planning legislation must be focussed on delivering 90,000 social rent homes a year. Private developers will not deliver the target 1.5m homes by themselves - councils need the means to build genuinely affordable homes too," it said.
"The government must make sure any target it sets will deliver the genuinely affordable social homes this country needs." Labour have expressed their commitment to social and affordable housebuilding.
The government's 2020 Social Housing White Paper renewed its affordable-homes commitments for 2021-26. If they are to deliver the biggest increase in that in a generation, they need to build over 66,100 affordable homes each year, at least 51,500 of these for social rent, which was achieved by, external the John Major 1992-97 Conservative government.
An £11.5bn programme is supposed to deliver up to 180,000 new homes over that period, half offering affordable ownership and half offering discounted rent. One of the ways Labour plans to do that is by introducing golden rules for the way it releases low-quality green belt land.
The government's latest figures on affordable-housing supply, external show 63,605 affordable homes were completed in England in 2022-23, an increase of 7% from the previous year. Any new development on such land will need to have at least 50% affordable homes - significantly more than the 10% requirement for new developments on brownfield land.
Latest figures on affordable-housing supply, external show 63,605 affordable homes were completed in England in 2022-23, an increase of 7% from the previous year.
These homes are classified as having:These homes are classified as having:
affordable rent - properties rented by local authorities or other providers at up to 80% of local market rentaffordable rent - properties rented by local authorities or other providers at up to 80% of local market rent
affordable rent - properties rented by local authorities or other providers at up to 80% of local market rentaffordable rent - properties rented by local authorities or other providers at up to 80% of local market rent
London affordable rent - a separate classification, offered by the Greater London Authority, also capped at 80%London affordable rent - a separate classification, offered by the Greater London Authority, also capped at 80%
London affordable rent - a separate classification, offered by the Greater London Authority, also capped at 80%London affordable rent - a separate classification, offered by the Greater London Authority, also capped at 80%
social rent - affordable housing usually owned by local authorities and housing associations with rents set by a national rent formulasocial rent - affordable housing usually owned by local authorities and housing associations with rents set by a national rent formula
social rent - affordable housing usually owned by local authorities and housing associations with rents set by a national rent formulasocial rent - affordable housing usually owned by local authorities and housing associations with rents set by a national rent formula
intermediate rent - rent capped at 80% for key workers, sometimes as part of a scheme to help save up to buy a homeintermediate rent - rent capped at 80% for key workers, sometimes as part of a scheme to help save up to buy a home
intermediate rent - rent capped at 80% for key workers, sometimes as part of a scheme to help save up to buy a homeintermediate rent - rent capped at 80% for key workers, sometimes as part of a scheme to help save up to buy a home
shared ownership - purchaser buys between 25% and 75% of a home and pays rent on the remaining shareshared ownership - purchaser buys between 25% and 75% of a home and pays rent on the remaining share
shared ownership - purchaser buys between 25% and 75% of a home and pays rent on the remaining shareshared ownership - purchaser buys between 25% and 75% of a home and pays rent on the remaining share
affordable home ownership - homes offered at no more than 80% of local market valuesaffordable home ownership - homes offered at no more than 80% of local market values
affordable home ownership - homes offered at no more than 80% of local market valuesaffordable home ownership - homes offered at no more than 80% of local market values
Just 9,500 of the affordable housing built that year, however, was for social rent, though there were over 24,500 new properties for affordable rent.
How much have house prices risen?How much have house prices risen?
When Mr Hammond announced the 300,000-a-year target in November 2017, the UK average house price was £224,453, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). For a home to be deemed affordable, it needs to cost less than five times workers' earnings.
The latest figures for September 2023 show an average price of £291,385, external, an increase of 30%. Across England & Wales, on average, that hasn't been the case since 2002.
For comparison, over the same period, the consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation, external has risen by 26%. Homes in 2023, external cost £285,000 on average - more than eight times average earnings of £35,000.
What is happening to house prices? This is a slight improvement in affordability from the year prior, though, as earnings have been growing faster than house prices.
What is happening to house prices?
What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?
Related TopicsRelated Topics
HousingHousing
Robert JenrickRobert Jenrick
Affordable housingAffordable housing
BBC VerifyBBC Verify
Social housingSocial housing