One of the headline pledges from the Labour Government is a goal to deliver 1.5 million homes in their time in office. That is an ambitious target to achieve by 2029. Some stakeholders have confidence in achieving it, especially with changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Others are sceptical though and think they will fall short. We want to have a closer look at this today, then if you need help with residential architecture in London, we are just a call away.

Positives

Firstly, let’s start with the positive side. Industry expert Glenigan is optimistic for 2025 and 2026. Their latest forecast predicts growth in construction, with 8% next year and 10% the following. More importantly in a housing sense, they are estimating a 13% rise in starts in 25 and 15% in 26.

Crucially, the estimated growth and acceleration in starts will be driven by more confidence. We can already see this in the second half of 2024 following the General Election. Project starts have had nice stability since then. Plus, private sector work has seen an increase.

Secondly, there is confidence that planning reform will boost approval rates for housing. Changes will reduce red tape and unlock numerous developments.

Finally, more funding is expected to help improve housing supply. For example, the Budget has £3bn for SME’s. This should help to get more smaller developments off the ground. Plus, the estimate from Glenigan is we could see an 11% rise in social housing in both of the next two years thanks to more funding.

Negatives

While there is plenty of optimism, including for residential architecture in London, some are warning the Government will struggle to reach the 1.5 million homes target.

One notable sceptic is Centre for Cities. The independent think tank believes that the NPPF reforms will not be enough. Looking at housebuilding data from the last 80 years, they predict that the private sector will be able to deliver 1.12 million homes by 2029. They believe the public sector will not be able to deliver the remaining 388,000 homes to achieve the target.

Centre for Cities believes the Government will need to make a bold decision to improve housing supply even further. They suggest one of two options; scrapping the Green Belt or switching to a zonal system to get rid of a discretionary element.

Their recommendation is the latter, focusing on releasing patches of land in the most ideal locations close to train stations. This would remove a massive hurdle to housebuilding and also bring UK planning policy in line with other leading countries.

Speak to us about residential architecture in London

Whatever happens between now and 2029, the big positive at the moment is there is more confidence for the construction industry. The hope is it will lead to more housing, helping to ease the shortage and get more people into safe, high quality homes.

If you are planning residential architecture in London, whether it is your own home, a small development, or a huge masterplan, we would love to help. You can contact us for all kinds of useful services. We’re creative and find innovative solutions for any needs, including tricky site challenges.