Planning permissions for homes fall to lowest level on record, says HBF

The number of housebuilding sites getting planning permission has fallen to the lowest level on record, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

The trade body’s latest Housing Pipeline report, which is based on a Glenigan dataset that goes back to 2006, reported just 408 sites for 10 or more homes received approval in the first quarter of this year.

Across the board, a little more than 54,000 homes and 1,220 sites for private housing were granted planning approval in the period.

The latter figure was 14% lower than Q4  2025 and 17% down on Q1 2025. In raw numbers, it was down from around 2,000 in 2022 and nearly 3,000 in 2017.

While planning permissions for large schemes have steadily fallen, according to the HBF the past 12 months have seen a steady uptick in the number of small site permissions. However, the body said that these represent just 3% of all permissions granted and will not make a major difference to supply. 

The HBF added that while planning reforms were welcome, increases in tax and regulatory costs had made many sites unviable. 

Previous research by the organisation estimated that the cost of delivering a new house had increased by an average of £76,000 since 2020.

It said the industry’s ability to invest was being eroded by suppressed effective demand due to the lack of affordable mortgage lending. 

“If Government wants to see housing supply increase it has got to look wider than planning and tackle the two major constraints of site viability and affordability,” said Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation.

“If it does, the industry stands ready to increase output, deliver more private and affordable homes, create jobs and boost growth.”