Accredited official statistics

Housing supply: indicators of new supply, England: October to December 2024

Published 27 March 2025

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

Date of next publication: It is expected that the Housing supply: indicators of new supply, England: January to March 2025 statistics will be published in June 2025 (provisional). The date will be pre-announced on the GOV.UK publication release calendar

1. Changes in this release

In this release, we have published an estimate of net additional dwellings between 1 April 2024 and 23 March 2025. This is an estimate of net housing supply occurring after the latest published net additions statistics, which currently cover up to 31 March 2024. We have also published an estimate of net additional dwellings since 9 July 2024, to measure progress towards the government’s target to deliver 1.5 million homes during the current parliament. These estimates are based on published figures for Energy Performance Certificate lodgements for new homes, adjusted to account for demolitions. The methodology is based on previously published analysis. For details, see the ‘Estimating net additional dwellings’ section.

In this release, the house building data was revised to include data from the Building Safety Regulator for the first time. This affected all quarters from the September quarter 2023 release. For further details, see the Technical Notes ‘Revisions in this release’ section.

We would welcome comments or suggestions from users on these changes, or on any other aspects of the statistics. You can contact us at housing.statistics@communities.gov.uk.

2. Release note

15 June 2023 marked the end of the transition period into new building regulatory standards in England relating to energy performance and electric vehicle charging points. Many house builders may have chosen to bring forward the start of project works to avoid the costs of complying with these new standards, and this has caused an unusually high peak in starts in 2023 Q2, and corresponding low levels in 2023 Q3 to 2024 Q4. This makes it difficult to assess the underlying trend in starts this quarter and so it is not advised to draw conclusions from comparing this quarter directly with other quarters.

3. Key statistics

3.1 Estimating net additional dwellings since 1 April 2024

With the publication of weekly domestic Energy Performance Certificate lodgements up to 23 March 2025:

We estimate that 199,100 net additional homes have been delivered in England between 1 April 2024 and 23 March 2025;

We estimate that 142,800 net additional homes have been delivered in England between the start of Parliament, on 9 July 2024, and 23 March 2025.

The Estimating net additional dwellings section of this release sets out the basis for these estimates.

3.2 New-build starts and completions (building control data)

According to building control data, between 1 October and 31 December 2024, the number of dwellings where building work has started on site was 30,860 (seasonally adjusted). This is a 7% increase when compared to the previous quarter and is a 52% increase when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

The number of dwellings completed was 36,830 (seasonally adjusted). This is a 2% increase when compared to the previous quarter and is a 9% decrease when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

3.3 Other housing supply indicators

In 2023-24, there were 221,070 net additional dwellings. This is a 6% decrease when compared to last year.

In the quarter ending December 2024, there were 56,190 new dwelling EPCs lodged. This is a 7% decrease when compared to the same quarter last year.

In the year ending December 2024, there were 217,910 new dwelling EPCs lodged. This is a 6% decrease when compared to last year.

In 2023-24, there was a 217,870 net increase in the number of domestic properties with a council tax band. This is a 9% decrease from the previous year.

4. Introduction

The purpose of this release is to provide an indication of the levels of and trends in new housing supply in England (please see the Technical Notes for information on statistics in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). This statistical release presents National Statistics^{[footnote 1] [footnote 2]} on building control reported estimates of housing supply in England up to 31 December 2024. This release also presents estimates of housing supply in England using other additional data sources.

The ‘new build dwelling’ figures are based on building control inspection data submitted to the Department by local authorities, the National House Building Council (NHBC) ,and other independent approved building control inspectors and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). This series began in 1946 based solely on local authority building control. NHBC data were added from 1985 and, after 2007, legislation allowed data from independent approved inspectors, and after 1 October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator.

On the 1 October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator, https://www.hse.gov.uk/building-safety/regulator.htm,(part of the Health and Safety Executive) became the Building Control Authority for all higher-risk buildings in England (defined as new residential buildings that are over 18 metres or 7 storeys with at least 2 residential units, and hospitals and care homes that meet the same height threshold). Data from the BSR on how many starts and completions of housing units it has inspected or certified for building control purposes since its creation are now included in these statistics as of the October to December 2024 release.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government also publishes an annual release titled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. This includes figures for new house building, conversions (for example a house into flats), change of use of an existing building (for example a shop into a house or a barn conversion), other gains/losses, and demolitions. The next release of ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings’ will be in November 2025 and will cover the year ending 31 March 2025. The indicators of new supply release should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply.

Our interactive dashboard illustrates results and historical trends from this release.

5. Estimating net additional dwellings

Our primary and most comprehensive measure of overall additional housing supply in England is the annual net housing supply: net additional dwellings statistics, also known as ‘net additions’. However, these statistics are an annual measure, providing figures for each whole financial year, and take more than 6 months to compile and publish. This means they do not yet tell us about homes delivered from April 2024 onwards, and cannot be used to measure time periods that do not align with financial years.

To address these limitations, from the statistical release for December quarter 2024 we are including in this statistical series estimates of net housing supply based on published figures for new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) lodgements for new homes, adjusted to account for demolitions. The methodology for this was originally developed and published in May 2024 and can be found here: Measuring progress towards 1 million homes.

The method begins with net additions, the primary measure of additional housing supply, but then makes two adjustments:

1. To estimate new housing supply occurring after the latest published net additions statistics – currently up to March 2024: the method uses published figures on EPCs lodged for new homes from April 2024 onwards, adjusted to account for demolitions.

2. To measure progress towards the government’s target to deliver 1.5 million homes during the current parliament: This means adjusting estimated 2024-25 net additions (or outturn net additions when available) to exclude those delivered before 9 July 2024 (the day the current Parliament first met). The method does so using the weekly profile of new EPC lodgements for new homes over that period.

MHCLG publishes both quarterly and weekly figures for EPCs and these estimates make use of both. The EPC figures have been shown over recent years to be a very close proxy for gross additional dwellings (net additional dwellings excluding demolitions). Therefore, to produce estimates of net additional dwellings we apply a small downward adjustment to the EPC data to subtract an estimate of demolitions over the period. This adjustment is calculated as a 5-year rolling average of demolitions from the net additions release, as a proportion of new EPC lodgements over the same period. To produce the England estimate, we use the ratio for England as a whole, and to produce regional estimates we use the individual ratios for each region. For the small proportion of EPC data for which the region is unknown we use the England ratio.

Table 1 shows the estimate of net additional dwellings in the financial year to date (1 April 2024 to 23 March 2025); and the estimate of net additional dwellings in this parliament (9 July 2024 to 23 March 2025).

Table 1 Net Additional dwellings, estimated net additional dwellings since 1 April 2024 and in this parliament, by time period and data source

Area	2023-24	01 April 2024 to 23 March 2025	09 July 2024 to 23 March 2025
England	221,070	199,100	142,800
North East	7,940	8,400	6,100
North West	26,870	24,200	17,300
Yorkshire and The Humber	21,100	17,000	12,400
East Midlands	22,790	20,500	14,900
West Midlands	21,790	18,800	13,500
East of England	28,640	25,100	18,400
London	32,160	31,900	22,400
South East	38,760	33,600	23,700
South West	21,010	19,400	13,900
Unknown	NA	100	100
Method/Source	Outturn net additions	Quarterly/weekly EPCs adjusted for demolitions	Quarterly/weekly EPCs adjusted for demolitions

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Sources: Housing supply; net additional dwellings, Live Table 118 EPCs for all new domestic properties, Live Table NHB1 and Weekly EPCs for domestic properties (new dwellings) table

Notes: The EPC-based estimates of net additional dwellings are rounded to the nearest 100 because they are more subject to uncertainty and revision than the annual net additions statistics. The rounded values may not exactly sum to the total. Values from 2024 Q2 onwards will be replaced by annual net additions statistics when they are published for the relevant time period. Additionally, figures for EPC’s are themselves subject to revision.

We would welcome comments or suggestions from users on the inclusion of these estimates in this regular statistical series on indicators of housing supply, on the methodology or any other aspect of the statistics. Your views and feedback help us to maximise the quality and value of our statistics to users. You can contact us at housing.statistics@communities.gov.uk.

6. New-build starts and completions (building control data)

It is estimated that the building control sourced data currently provides information on about 80% of house building in England. Further details are available in the Technical Notes.

6.1 Quarterly figures for 2024 Q4

Quarterly figures for new build dwelling starts and completions are given on a seasonally adjusted basis. These should be used for quarterly comparisons to see trends.

In 2024 Q4 (1 October to 31 December 2024), new build dwelling starts in England were estimated to be 30,860 (seasonally adjusted), a 7% increase when compared to 2024 Q3 and a 52% increase when compared to 2023 Q4. Starts are 55% below their 2023 Q2 peak and are 84% above their 2020 Q2 trough.

New build dwelling completions in England were estimated to be 36,830 (seasonally adjusted), a 2% increase when compared to 2024 Q3 and 9% decrease when compared to 2023 Q4. Completions are 25% below their 2021 Q1 peak and are 129% above their 2020 Q2 trough.

As can be seen from Figure 1 below, trends in starts and completions were similar up to 2008. During the economic downturn of 2008, both starts and completions fell. From 2009, starts began to recover and during the next three years both series converged and levelled out. From 2013 to 2018, both starts and completions gradually grew again. Starts and completions both reached their lowest level in the June quarter 2020 reflecting the restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a sharp uptick in the September quarter 2020, starts have been more volatile, peaking in the June quarter 2023 and then falling sharply in the second half of 2023 (partly due to changes in building regulations, see note at the beginning of this release). Completions were broadly stable between the September quarter 2020 and the December quarter 2022, and have decreased since.

Figure 1 Seasonally adjusted trends in quarterly building control reported new build dwelling starts and completions, England, 2006 Q2 to 2024 Q4

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6.2 Quarterly index

The quarterly index starts at 100 in 2007 Q2. This should be used when looking at the rate of change of starts and completions rather than the numeric change.

As can be seen from Figure 2 below, the index shows a similar pattern to the seasonally adjusted quarterly estimates with the recent troughs and peaks in starts and completions evident.

Figure 2 Index of building control reported new build dwelling starts and completions, quarterly (Seasonally Adjusted), England, 2007 Q2 to 2024 Q4

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6.3 Annual figures

These figures are not seasonally adjusted and give annual estimates for house building over a rolling 12-month period. These can be used to make year on year comparisons.

In the year to 31 December 2024, new build dwelling starts in England were estimated to be 107,530, a 28% decrease when compared to the year to 31 December 2023.

New build dwelling completions in England were estimated to be 153,910, a 6% decrease when compared to the year to 31 December 2023.

As can be seen from Figure 3 below, annual new build dwelling starts were broadly increasing from 2002 until achieving a peak of 183,600 in the year ending December 2007. Starts then fell sharply to a low of 75,350 in the year ending June 2009 following the economic downturn. Over the following decade, starts increased to reach 169,200 in the year ending September 2018, before falling gradually to 148,520 in the year ending March 2020. Starts then dropped steeply to 123,030 in the year ending September 2020 due to the restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, starts rose sharply to 192,230 in the year to June 2023, then decreased steeply to 107,530 in the year ending December 2024 (partly due to changes in building regulations, see note at front of release).

Similarly, annual new build dwelling completions generally increased from 2002 until reaching 176,640 the year ending December 2007. Completions then gradually fell, reaching a low of 106,720 in the year ending December 2010. Thereafter, completions increased steadily to 177,880 in the year ending December 2019. Completions then dropped steeply in the year ending September 2020 to 144,980 due to the restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Completions recovered to a peak of 181,930 in the year ending June 2021 and have since fallen to 153,910 in the year ending December 2024.

Figure 3 Trends in building control reported estimates of starts and completions, 12-month rolling totals (not seasonally adjusted), England, 2002 to 2024

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7. Further indicators of supply

This section provides analysis of other indicators of housing supply. It is intended that these indicators, along with the building control data, provide a suite of information which give a rounded estimate of the current trends in housing supply and an indication of what the more complete estimate of housing supply, net additional dwellings, will show when it becomes available in November 2025.

7.1 Energy Performance Certificates

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes quarterly official statistics on the Energy Performance of Buildings Certificates (EPCs) in England^{[footnote 3]} which includes statistics on EPCs lodged for new dwellings.

The EPC statistics can be compared to the previously mentioned annual ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings’ release, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. As with the net additional dwellings figures, those from the EPC data include new build dwellings, conversions and change of use, and have been shown over recent years to be a close proxy for net additional dwellings. The main cause of difference is that the EPC figures do not take account of losses such as demolitions.

In 2019-20, net additions peaked at 248,590 and new dwelling EPCs totalled 254,720. In 2020-21, net additions fell to 217,750, a 12% decrease from 2019-20, while new dwelling EPCs fell by 13% to 220,720. In 2022-23, there were 248,040 EPCs lodged for new build dwellings, a 3% increase from 2021-22, though a 3% decrease from the 2019-20 peak. There were 234,290 net additions in 2022-23, similar to 2021-22 (down by 170 dwellings, or 0%), though down 6% from the peak in 2019-20. In 2023-24, there were 232,480 EPCs lodged, a 6% decrease from 2022-23. There were 221,070 net additions in 2023-24, a 6% decrease from 2022-23.

The EPC figures are not a direct comparison with the building control figures shown earlier in this release. However, since 2009-10, the quarterly EPCs lodged for new dwellings have followed a similar trend to quarterly new build dwelling completions. There were 56,190 new dwelling EPCs lodged in England in 2024 Q4, representing a 7% decrease when compared to the same quarter of the previous year. There were 40,860 new build dwelling completions (not seasonally adjusted) in 2024 Q4, a 9% decrease from the same quarter of the previous year. The number of new dwellings EPCs lodged are higher than the quarterly new build completion figures as they comprise new builds, conversions and change of use. One of the reasons for the difference between the two sets of figures is an increase in the number of new dwellings created through change of use.

In 2020, MHCLG also started publishing weekly EPC data because they were judged to be of immediate value to interested parties to help meet the demands for statistics measuring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Weekly data is timelier than the quarterly statistics, but differs from the quarterly figures due to overlaps in the weekly figures. For example, the week commencing 27 June 2022 contains days in June 2022 which would count in the June quarter 2022 as well as containing days in July 2022 which would instead count in the September quarter 2022. Further, at the end of each year, decreases in the weekly EPC series do not necessarily reflect the trends in housing completions as fewer EPCs are lodged in the Christmas period. Following publication, weekly EPC data may also contain certificates that are cancelled or not for issue and will therefore be an overcount. This represents around 2 per cent of weekly EPC data.

There were 42,900 EPCs lodged for new build dwellings in the 13 weeks to the week commencing 17 March 2025, a 18% decrease on the 13 weeks to the week commencing 18 March 2024.

As can be seen from Figure 4 below, the 13-week rolling totals closely follow the quarterly series.

Figure 4 Quarterly building control reported new build dwelling completions (not seasonally adjusted), quarterly EPCs lodged for new build dwellings, 13-week rolling EPCs lodged for new build dwellings totals, England, 2019 Q3 to 2024 Q4 (to date)

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7.2 Council Tax Stock of Properties

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes annual official statistics on the number of domestic properties with a council tax band in England^{[footnote 4]} which includes statistics on the net increase in the stock of domestic properties.

The Council Tax statistics can similarly be compared to the annual ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings’ release, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. However, it is an approximate comparison as the Council Tax figures include communal accommodation and properties moving between the business rates list and the council tax list (for example, re-classification of holiday lets to a dwelling). This can over or under-estimate net additional dwellings. As with the net additional dwellings figures, the Council Tax stock of properties also includes new build dwellings, conversions and change of use. The Council Tax figures are therefore also not a direct comparison with the building control figures shown earlier in this release.

Net additional dwellings and the change in the Council Tax stock of properties in England have both been steadily increasing from 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively, the low point following the economic downturn, reaching a recent peak in 2019-20. The decrease in 2020-21, may in part, be due to the restrictions introduced in Spring 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023-24, the change in Council Tax stock of properties totalled 217,870, a 9% decrease from 2022-23, and an 11% decrease from the 2019-20 peak. There were 234,290 net additions in 2022-23, similar to 2021-22 (down by 170 dwellings, or 0%), though down 6% from the peak in 2019-20.There were 221,070 net additions in 2023-24, a 6% decrease from 2022-23.

Figure 5 Net additional dwellings, annual change in the Council Tax stock of properties, 12-month EPCs lodged for new build dwellings totals, 12-month building control reported new build dwelling completions totals (not seasonally adjusted), England, 2009-10 to 2023-24

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8. Regional figures

In the year to 31 December 2024, starts decreased from the previous year in all regions. The largest percentage decreases from the previous year were in London (-62%) and in the North West (-38%).

Completions decreased in 7 of the 9 regions from the previous year. The largest percentage decrease was in West Midlands, where completions decreased by 20% from the previous year.

As can be seen from Figure 6 below, the highest rates of annual starts per 1,000 dwellings was in the East of England and the highest rates of annual completions per 1,000 dwellings was in the East Midlands.

Figure 6^{[footnote 5]} Starts per 1,000 dwellings (left) and completions per 1,000 dwellings (right), by English region, year to 31 December 2024

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9. New build completions final tenure estimate

The final tenure is the final usage of the new dwelling, whether they are for private ownership, housing associations or local authority housing stock. This is different to the tenure of the developer as private developers also build dwellings for housing associations and local authorities. Since 2006-07, this has been estimated using a modelled approach based on the Affordable Housing Supply Statistics. Further details are in the methodology section below.

In 2023-24, it is estimated that Private Enterprise (new dwellings built for private sale, private renting, and by non-registered providers) delivered 73%, Housing Associations 24% and Local Authorities 3% of total new build dwellings.

Figure 7^{[footnote 6]} New build dwellings completed, by final tenure, England, 1969-70 to 2023-24

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In 2023-24, it is estimated that 46% of the completions delivered through Housing Associations or Local Authorities were under Section 106 (nil grant) agreements.

Figure 8 New build dwellings completed, by final tenure and the number of units whose final tenure is either Housing Association or Local Authorities having been provided under Section 106 (nil grant) agreements, England, 2011-12^{[footnote 7]} to 2023-24

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9.1 Methodology

Prior to 2005-06, the tenure split was estimated using the building control reported data, which reports on the provider type. However, this is not the same as providing an estimate of the final tenure of the dwellings once they are completed since it is not always possible, nor is it the responsibility, of a building control inspector to know the final tenure. This is likely to have caused an over estimation of the supply for private enterprise.

From 2006-07 onwards, net additional dwellings and the affordable housing statistics are used to model the tenure split. The estimated final tenure split uses the total new build completions component from the net additional dwellings statistics and the completions delivered by Housing Associations and Local Authorities from the Affordable housing supply statistical release to estimate the Private Enterprise delivery. This method will be more accurate in providing the final tenure of new housing supply. This series begins at 2006-07 as this is when the new build component in the net additional dwellings estimates was first published.

10. Planning applications

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) also produces planning applications statistics measuring the number of applications submitted and granted.

10.1 Residential units

The figures collected by the department are the numbers of applications and decisions on planning applications submitted to local planning authorities, rather than the number of housing units included in each application. The department supplements this information by obtaining statistics on housing units for which permission is granted from a contractor, Glenigan^{[footnote 8]}.

These figures are provided here to give contextual information to users and have not been designated as National Statistics. Further details are provided in the Planning applications statistical release.

The latest provisional figures show that permission for 241,000 homes was given in the year to 31 December 2024, a 3% decrease from the 248,000 homes granted permission in the year to 31 December 2023.

As can be seen from Table 2 below, the number of housing units granted planning permission show a similar trend to the building control reported starts and completions.

Table 2 Number of housing units granted planning permission, England, annual totals, 31 December 2016 to 31 December 2024

Year Ending	Units Granted	Percentage Change
31-Dec-16	316,000
31-Dec-17	322,000	2%
31-Dec-18	316,000	-2%
31-Dec-19	328,000	4%
31-Dec-20	288,000	-12%
31-Dec-21	315,000	9%
31-Dec-22	292,000	-7%
31-Dec-23	248,000	-15%
31-Dec-24	241,000	-3%

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When considering the above figures in relation to the government’s ambition of raising housing supply to 1.5 million homes over this parliament, it should be noted that, in practice, many permissions do not result in a home being delivered. This is due to a range of reasons relating to the circumstances of landowners and developers as well as the local and national economy. In addition, i) time lags in building can affect the number of homes built in a particular period; and ii) the methodology used cannot guarantee that all double counting of permissions is removed from the above figures.

11. Accompanying tables and open data

11.1 Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release.

11.2 Open data

The EPC statistics are available in fully open and linkable data formats at Open Data Communities.

12. Technical notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes for further details.

13. Enquiries

Media enquiries: Email: NewsDesk@communities.gov.uk

Public enquiries and Responsible Statistician: Ollie Jacob Email: housing.statistics@communities.gov.uk

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website

Information about statistics at MHCLG is available via the Department’s website.

1. National Statistics are accredited official statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. Please see the Office for Statistics Regulation website for further details. ↩

2. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website. ↩

3. Whilst the Energy Performance of Building Certificates statistical release covers England and Wales, the accompanying tables also have data for England and Wales separately. ↩

4. Whilst the Council Tax statistical release covers England and Wales, the accompanying tables also have data for England and Wales separately. ↩

5. Figure 6 shows the number of starts and completions per 1,000 dwellings in each of the 9 English regions over the year to 31 December 2024. To show house building in proportion to the size of each district we divide the number of starts or completions in the year by the existing dwelling stock. The result is multiplied by 1,000 to give a figure that is easier to interpret. For example, a region with 100,000 dwellings where, over the previous year, 570 new dwellings are started would give a value of 5.7 new dwellings per thousand of existing stock and would therefore be shaded in light blue in the coloured map for starts. ↩

6. In Figures 7 and 8, non-registered providers and unknown providers contributing towards affordable housing delivery are included in the Private Enterprise estimate. ↩

7. The Section 106 (nil grant) figures before 2011 are not included as the data were not collected. ↩

8. Glenigan routinely collects data on planning applications submitted to all English local planning authorities and records the information by maintaining a ‘planning application’ for every project. The data have been updated over time as subsequent applications are submitted and decisions made, with all new applications being matched against the existing database at entry stage. This has involved an automated process supplemented by manual checking to identify any further matching project. ↩