Latest Homes England housebuilding statistics published
Today’s statistics demonstrate the number of housing starts on site and completions delivered by Homes England between 1 April and 30 September 2022.
Housing programmes delivered by Homes England resulted in 14,812 new houses starting on site and 12,118 houses completed between 1 April and 30 September 2022, according to official statistics released today (1 December 2022).
Though these figures demonstrate a decrease in starts and completions on the same period last year, this is largely due to the transition from the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme (SOAHP) 2016-21 to the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) 2021-26; bidding for the SOAHP 2016-21 closed in March 2021, and the AHP 2021-26 is still building its delivery capacity after launching in 2021.
10,986, or 74%, of the housing starts on site during this period were for affordable homes. This is in line with the same period last year, where 73% of all starts on site were for affordable homes.
Of the affordable homes started in this period:
- 2,095 were for Affordable Rent, an increase of 25% on this period last year
- 1,751 were for Intermediate Affordable Housing schemes, including Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy, an increase of 19%
- 799 were for Social Rent, a decrease of 8%
The tenure is still to be confirmed for a further 6,341 of the affordable homes starts*.
7,848, or 65%, of the housing completions from 1 April – 30 September 2022 were for affordable homes. This marks a decrease from the same period last year, where 70% of completions were for affordable homes, which is primarily due to SOAHP 2016-21 no longer accepting new allocations, with all new allocations going through the AHP 2021-26. The SOAHP 2016-21, along with the AHP 2015-18 and Right to Buy Replacement programmes are now closed, and completions being delivered reflect commitments entered into prior to their closure.
Of the affordable homes completed in this period:
- 3,670 were for Affordable Rent, a decrease of 31% from the same period last year
- 3,055 were for Intermediate Affordable Housing Schemes, a decrease of 15%
- The remaining 1,123 were for Social Rent, a 4% decrease
Peter Denton, Chief Executive at Homes England, said:
Our partners are operating in a challenging environment with many macro-economic pressures, including material, labour shortages, and rising cost inflation. All have impacted delivery. This slight decline in numbers is also not unexpected during the transitional period between two programmes.
We know that our partners are likely to face continued pressures in the coming period. Our shared mission of providing quality, affordable housing for those that need it most is more important than ever, and our focus is firmly on supporting our partners and maximising delivery.
Notes to Editors
*All ‘tenure to be confirmed starts’ originate from Strategic Partnerships (SP) where providers are not contractually required to identify the tenure of a unit until completion.
National housing statistics are published twice a year showing half and full year starts and completions as part of planned national statistical releases. The next release is full year starts and completions, which are due to be published in May/June 2023. Housing figures cannot be provided outside of these official releases.
Homes England programmes are funded by central government to enable private registered providers, house builders, community groups and local authorities to deliver affordable housing.
This release presents the housing starts on site and housing completions delivered by Homes England between 1 April 2022 and 30 September 2022 in England excluding London (for both the current and historical series3) with the exception of the Build to Rent (BtR), Builders Finance Fund (BFF), Get Britain Building (GBB), the Home Building Fund – Short Term Fund (HBF-STF) and the Levelling Up – Home Building Fund (LU-HBF) programmes which are administered by Homes England on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and where delivery covers all of England including London.
Since April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London.
The list of programmes included in these totals are detailed in the official housing statistics report.
“Affordable Tenure TBC” refers to units that have reached the start on site milestone but where the tenure of these units has not yet been specified. This was introduced as a flexibility for Strategic Partnerships to enable them to determine tenure close to or at the point of completion. These starts will be restated under their specified tenure headings in future national statistics updates once the tenure has been established at completion. Homes England also manages the Help to Buy equity loan scheme in England (including in London on behalf of the GLA). However, the completions are reported by the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and, therefore, are excluded from these statistics.