Date Published 25 January 2020
* According to the National House Building Council just 44,361 new homes were registered to be built in the UK in the three months to November, far short of the Government's target of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s.
* Across the UK the number of new homes registered to be built was up just 2% year on year, although the West Midlands, London and East of England all saw significant increases.
* Manifesto pledges include making the planning system simpler and introducing community-led design standards for development. However, there is a need to ensure quality is not sacrificed for quantity. A housing design audit conducted by Place Alliance revealed 75% of new housing in England was considered ‘mediocre' or ‘poor'.
* Housebuilder share prices have risen on average by 8% since the election victory, but the audit argues that in order to improve design and standards, housebuilders need to prioritise the long-term wellbeing of customers and the environment, as well as being more ambitious in their approach.
