The numbers underline the scale of the government’s challenge in boosting housing supply to anything close to its stated ambitions.
According to the latest report from the Home Builders Federation (HBF), only 1,311 housing sites were approved between June and September — the 11th consecutive quarter in which the number of consents has fallen.
In the year to September 2025, only 209,781 new homes received planning permission — the lowest 12-month total since 2013 and 38% below the peak recorded in early 2022.
Approvals for individual housing sites have also slumped as only just 7,500 projects were signed off over the past year, a 12% fall compared with the year to Q2 2025 and 1,000 fewer than the previous record low set in June 2025. That figure represents barely a third of the number of sites granted consent in 2018, signalling a sharply shrinking development pipeline and a much smaller home-building footprint in the years ahead.
A Zoopla report recently warned that half of England is now considered unviable for development, while the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook flagged a “shortage of viable sites” as a growing risk to future housing supply.
The Home Builders Federation says the sector is preparing for further tax pressures, with Landfill Tax set to double in April 2026 and rise annually thereafter, alongside a new levy on new homes from October 2026 that is expected to add around £3,000 to the cost of each property.
The HBF warns that the latest planning figures — which shape future supply — are alarming. The number of plots approved over the past year amounts to just 57% of the National Planning Policy Framework’s annual housing target of 370,000.
The federation says urgent government action is needed to address the pressures shaping housing supply, warning that recent planning reforms will fall short without wider intervention.
It reports that more development sites are becoming unviable due to rising taxes, levies and policy-driven costs. At the same time, demand for new homes remains weak: mortgage affordability is constrained, and for the first time in over 60 years there is no government support for aspiring homeowners.
London has seen the steepest decline in approvals, with units down 49% on the previous quarter and 72% compared with Q3 2024. Fewer than 34,000 homes and just 910 projects were approved in the past year — the lowest level recorded since the Housing Pipeline Report began.
The industry has broadly welcomed the joint government and London Mayor package designed to improve the business climate for housebuilding in the capital, noting that policymakers have finally recognised how rising taxes and policy costs are undermining viability. However, a new homes levy due in October 2026 — tied to local house prices — is expected to fall especially heavily on London and could further weaken investor confidence.
Neil Jefferson, chief executive at the HBF, says: “These figures paint a very worrying picture for future housing supply. The positive planning reforms announced this week are very positive, but home builders continue to grapple with rising policy costs and new taxes, making investment hard to justify.
“Building on improvements to both the planning system and the planning process, ministers now need to consider these rising taxes, new levies and excessive policy costs that make many sites unviable to develop.
“Meanwhile, the lack of affordable mortgage lending is preventing many young people without access to the Bank of Mum and Dad from getting onto the housing ladder, undermining the industry’s ability to build more homes and further entrenching social inequalities.”