"Whilst it's possible that they need time to overhaul planning rules, cut red tape, and prepare and incentivise the nation’s housebuilders to increase output, it’s already looking as though the task of delivering what was promised is running away from them"
- Thomas Cantor - West One Loans
Labour will take nearly 12 years to hit its new-build housing target if the current pace of construction continues, according to new analysis from West One Loans.
The research suggests that despite an increase in the number of homes being started since Labour took office, the government remains far from meeting the five-year goal outlined in its 2024 General Election manifesto.
The manifesto included a pledge to deliver 1.5 million net additions to England’s housing supply during its first term. This was widely interpreted to require 370,000 homes being added each year—an aim that many industry voices said was unachievable from the outset.
West One Loans’ latest figures show that nearly a year into Labour’s term, the gap between ambition and delivery remains substantial.
However, the report also highlights a notable increase in construction activity. Between Q3 2024 and Q1 2025, the period since Labour took office, 86,000 new homes were started in England. This represents a significant rise on the 68,080 starts recorded across the previous three quarters (Q4 2023 to Q2 2024).*
Labour’s housing goal is framed in terms of net additions. This broader measure includes not only new-build homes but also dwellings created through conversions and changes of use. However, historical data indicates that 89.8% of net additions typically stem from new-build developments.*
This proportion implies that approximately 1.35 million of the 1.5 million total must come from new-builds to meet the manifesto target.
Since coming to power, Labour has seen an average of 28,667 new-build starts per quarter. If this pace continues, annual starts would reach roughly 114,667. At that rate, delivering the necessary 1.35 million new-build homes would take 11.8 years, over twice the promised timeframe, and with a year already elapsed.
“The Labour Government was quick to hang its hat on an ambitious target with respect to housing delivery,” explained Thomas Cantor, co-head of short-term finance at West One Loans. “With previous governments having consistently fallen short, this was understandably met with a great degree of scepticism."
‘Of course, it is still early days and Labour may well be in the process of laying the initial groundwork required to eventually pave the way for an explosion in new home delivery."
“But whilst it's possible that they need time to overhaul planning rules, cut red tape, and prepare and incentivise the nation’s housebuilders to increase output, it’s already looking as though the task of delivering what was promised is running away from them."
“This will come as little surprise to the industry, which has been consistently calling for further market stimulation via government intervention of monetary policy. We simply haven’t seen enough done in this respect, and given the lack of movement with respect to interest rates of late, the worry is that we aren’t unlocking the full potential of development activity at a time when it’s needed most.”
