SUMMARY

In the year to Q1 2020, 255,225 homes were completed according to Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) data. This is a decline of 0.1% on the quarter before, the first decline since 2017. We had anticipated a slowdown in the growth of completions before the events of Covid-19 as starts fell, but the lockdown has caused a significant pause in new house building. The full extent of this will become clear in the Q2 data, expected in late July.

Full planning consent was granted for 367,404 homes in the year to Q3 2019, a -5% fall on the previous quarter. However, the number of new home starts has fallen more, by -11% since peaking over a year ago. This suggests a continued disconnection between the size and location of consents against areas where need for homes is greatest. Slower sales and an already large construction pipeline also weigh on starts in London.

When compared to the previous year, delivery of new homes stopped growing in the West Midlands, North East and South West. In the West Midlands supply dropped-off the most, falling -9% compared with the year to Q1 2019. In London, the region with the largest shortfall in delivery at only 58% of housing need, there were also falls in completions. Supply in all other regions grew between 3% and 5%, with the exception of Yorkshire and The Humber where housing supply increased much more considerably, growing by 21%.