Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, has commented on the new Homes England figures. The data showed that Homes England has exceeded housebuilding targets across the country in 2024 and 2025.
While the Homes England starts and completions data are relatively positive, they are a drop in the ocean in terms of the new homes that need to be delivered if the government is going to get anywhere near its target.
Achieving 1.5m new homes by the end of this Parliament requires sustained delivery of around 300,000 new homes annually and the Homes England figures cited represent just over 10% of the new homes needed to reach that target.
The target was always unrealistic given that the government doesn’t control the supply of housing. That’s down to the housebuilders and they are profit maximisers, which means they very carefully control the supply of new homes to maintain price levels.
The long-term average for new homes completions is around 240,000 homes per year, so the likelihood is that the government will fall short of their target by about 300,000 homes.
