Number of new homes fell in Labour’s first year but applications rise

The number of new homes in England fell during Labour’s first year in office, but applications to build more rose over the past six months.

BBC Verify’s housing tracker shows 201,000 homes got their first Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) in the 12 months to June 2025, down 8% from the year before, continuing a fall that began under the Conservatives.

But figures from Planning Portal showed permission requests for new homes outside London between January and June were 49% up on last year.

A government spokesperson said it “inherited an acute and entrenched housing crisis” but would deliver on its target of 1.5 million homes by the next election and “restore the dream of homeownership”.

EPCs are a good indicator of new homes because every property is required to have one within a few days of completion. It can take years for housing to go from planning permission to being completed and needing an EPC.

Experts warn that unless the government speeds up the decision time for applications, it could take a whole parliamentary term before they start to be built.

You can use your postcode to find out how many homes were added in your local area and what target it has been set in our interactive tool.

Earlier this month housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the government expected figures to “remain low for some time”. He said it would not be giving national annual targets but needed to “significantly ramp up supply in the later years of the Parliament”.

The target of 1.5 million homes in five years in England would be equivalent to 300,000 properties every year. That level of building has not been seen since the late 1960s. However, back then there were also a lot of demolitions, largely due to slum clearances, which meant that net gains were at a similar level as now.

In December 2024, local authority areas were given targets for new housing based on how many homes there were already and how affordable they are.

In Milton Keynes, 1,995 new homes had EPCs registered in the 12 months to June, which is more than the 1,724 a year the government’s new targets will require, as long as it can maintain construction rates.

Lindsey, 54, works in the city as a nursery practitioner and said if she did not have a council property she “would absolutely not be able to live here” as she is “priced out” of the area.

She said there needed to be more affordable housing so that people like her “who are working in regular jobs, not high-paid jobs” could access housing.

Peter Marland, leader of Milton Keynes city council, said too many places saw the government’s target as a maximum rather than an opportunity to “aim for and exceed”.

The Labour councillor accepts the city has a geographical advantage compared with other areas that may have a lot of greenbelt land or have “maxed out” their space.

While Milton Keynes has been building homes at a rate that would meet the government’s targets, Eastbourne in Sussex is among many councils that have a long way to go. It has been set a target of 702 homes a year, but only 127 EPCs were registered in the past 12 months.

Amber, 19, works at a café in Eastbourne and lives with her parents. She said most of her friends were in the same position.

She said: “I feel like, because it’s a seaside town, it is quite expensive, so it’s not easy for young people…especially if you’re on your own.”

Her colleague Bella, also 19 and living with her parents, says she rented previously while living in another country, but “you just end up having no money”.

Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Diplock, cabinet member for housing at Eastbourne Council, said the government housing target for the area was “totally unrealistic” and did not take account of “geographical and environmental constraints on development in the town”.

He said Eastbourne was bordered by the English Channel and the South Downs National Park and it had “complex flood issues” and “limited land for development”, but added that homes were built every year.

Official figures show the number of new homes fell in the final two years that the Conservatives were in power, with the latest data indicating a further fall since Labour took office.

The number of planning applications granted also fell to record lows last year.

However, the number of requests for planning permission has risen – although experts warn it may take years to turn these into completed homes.

Data shared with BBC Verify by Planning Portal, used by councils across the country for planning applications, suggests that outside London, there were 132,000 additional homes requested once proposals to demolish others were accounted for, up 49% from 88,500 in the same six months of 2024.

But the figures are still not back to where they were in 2023.

Geoff Keal, from Planning Portal, said: “It’s still early, even now, but we are seeing an uptick. That’s good. We really need to see that [in the next six months] to give any degree of confidence. The intent of the government is really quite clear, which is giving confidence to those that are behind the changes.”

Planning Portal had its busiest ever day in March, which it puts down to people trying to beat application fee increases that came into effect in April. This meant that April to June’s figures were down on January to March but were still higher than the same quarter of 2024.

Rachel Clements, from planning consultancy Lichfields, said while developers were gaining the confidence to pursue planning applications outside London, unless the process was sped up it could “take the length of a parliamentary term before the homes they contain begin to be built”.

The government has said it will speed up the process with a new AI tool for councils to scan hundreds of files in seconds. Housebuilders will also be expected to commit to building timescales before they get permission.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We have already taken action to get Britain building, including by overhauling the National Planning Policy Framework, driving forward our landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill and levelling the playing field for smaller housebuilders.

“This is on top of delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation with £39bn over the next decade, a £16bn National Housing Bank to support development and unlocking £53bn of private investment.”

Analysis for the housing tracker by BBC Verify takes Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and shows for every council area whether they are up or down on the year before.

EPCs are a leading indicator of new homes because every property is required by law to have one within a few days of completion, although the numbers can vary from official statistics published once a year in the autumn.

Additional reporting by Naresh Puri