Labour 1.5 million housing goal savaged as ‘critical challenges’ dampen pledge | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Labour’s goal of constructing 1.5 million houses throughout this Parliament “faces serious challenges”, according to an expert, as completed constructions continue to decline.

Housebuilding activity has already fallen to its lowest level in a year, with the latest S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showing residential building activity falling in January for the fourth consecutive month.

Now, Stuart Law, CEO of property finance lender Assetz Capital, said there needs to be planning permission reforms to expedite the house building process amid labour shortages.

He told the Express: “The UK Government’s goal of delivering 1.5 million new houses this parliamentary time period faces critical challenges. While the dedication is obvious, planning bottlenecks and labour shortages make reaching it not possible.

“A major barrier is the inefficiency of the planning system. Developer clients of Assetz Capital report that securing planning permission is their biggest obstacle.”

Sir Keir Starmer first introduced his promise of constructing 1.5 million new houses in October 2023, with the pledge additionally being a key characteristic of their election manifesto.

However, information from the Office for National Statistics revealed that solely 41,220 dwellings had been accomplished between July and September 2024 – a lower from 52,410 in the course of the earlier three months beneath the Tories.

Further information from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government discovered that the North East of England had the worst completion charge throughout the identical interval, at simply 1,760 houses.

This is sort of 3 times lower than the South East, which had the best completion charge at 5,190.

In December, Labour made adjustments to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which reintroduced necessary housing targets and land provide guidelines.

Despite this, Mr Law stated not sufficient is being carried out to assist small website builders, outlined as areas that will match lower than 25 houses. He accused the Government of prioritising massive developments, slowing down the house-building course of.

He defined: “Recent NPPF changes fail to support small site developments, a key potential driver of housing supply through the large numbers of smaller housebuilders. Despite new NPPF reforms, the huge potential of small site development remains overlooked.

“The system is gradual and unpredictable, favouring massive developments that require in depth negotiations over infrastructure and reasonably priced housing. Despite new NPPF reforms, the massive potential of small website improvement stays missed.

“Small housebuilders could play a significant role in boosting supply. With around 2,500 small developers in the UK, speeding planning and improving finance availability could allow each to build perhaps 10 extra homes per year and could add 25,000 annually.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson stated: “We will deliver 1.5 million new homes and decide 150 planning applications for major infrastructure over five years as part of our Plan for Change.