England Home Approvals Fall to 14-Year Low of 45,315

Planning approvals for new homes in England have fallen to 45,315 in the second quarter of 2026 — the lowest quarterly figure since 2012 and a 21% drop on the previous three months.

Figures from the Home Builders Federation show permissions over the 12 months to June fell 8% to 214,515 homes, 36% below the 2017 peak.

Volume house builder applications were hit hardest. Approvals for homes on sites of more than 10 units slumped 21% quarter on quarter to 39,689 and were 14% lower than a year earlier.

Private housing approvals dropped 19% during the quarter and 15% year on year.

Just 1,234 projects containing three or more homes were approved during Q2 — the lowest quarterly figure on record.

The HBF blamed weak buyer demand, mortgage affordability and mounting development costs for squeezing investment in new sites. It estimates the cost of delivering an average new house has risen by £76,000 since 2020.

More pressure is coming. The Building Safety Levy takes effect next month and is estimated to add another £2,320 to the cost of a typical home.

HBF chief executive Neil Jefferson said: "These figures show a housing pipeline being squeezed to historically low levels, with too few planning permissions coming forward to meet the country's housing needs.

"The cumulative impact of higher taxes, increasing costs and layers of new policy requirements is making more and more sites unviable, while weak demand has been compounded by the absence of meaningful Government support for first-time buyers and a lack of affordable mortgage lending.

"The Prime Minister's announcement of a first-time buyer support scheme is a hugely welcome step, and we look forward to working with Government to ensure the scheme is accessible to as many potential purchasers and home builders as possible."

With the annual permissions total sitting more than a third below its 2017 peak and the Building Safety Levy due next month, the gap between England's planning pipeline and the Government's housing ambitions is set to widen before it narrows.