Housing starts lag behind completions for sixth consecutive quarter

Housing starts in the UK have lagged behind completions for the sixth successive quarter, including to the latest official data.

Around 32,000 homes were started in the last quarter of 2024, compared to just over 49,000 completed during the same period, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of starts is down from 37,000 in the preceding quarter and well below the average of 42,000 homes which have been started per quarter since the ONS resumed gathering the data after the pandemic in April 2022.

Completions have remained more stable, rising in the last quarter of 2024 from 41,500 in the third quarter, with an average of just over 49,000 completions a year since the pandemic.

Pocket Living chief executive Paul Rickard said: “By any measure these are a disappointing set of figures and continue to highlight the massive challenge the government has in delivering 1.5m new homes within the next four years.”

Rickard urged the government to look beyond planning reforms to incentivise more housebuilding, including measures to encourage SME housebuilders.

“Planning reform is only part of the answer. With one in three approved homes still unbuilt since 2015 and viability now beyond breaking point, it’s time for policymakers to work with the sector to find real, workable solutions,” he said.

“This must include policies to encourage an SME housebuilding renaissance, maximising the opportunities of devolution and Homes England reform, introducing flexibility on affordable tenure, using the forthcoming Spending Review and Housing Strategy as a major delivery reset moment, and applying a proportionality test for new and existing regulations.”