Home completions in England up 12 percent in Q2

New build dwelling completions in England have increased 12 per cent in Q2 2024 compared to the previous quarter, new data shows.

According to the latest indicators of new supply in England, published by the Ministry for Housing, new starts and completions both increased over the period compared to Q1.

The seasonally adjusted figures, between 1 April and 30 June 2024, show that new build dwelling starts in England were 22,990, a two per cent increase compared to the previous quarter. 

This is a 65 per cent decrease compared to the same quarter the previous year.

However, the Ministry for Housing noted that several housebuilders might have brought forward project starts to avoid the costs of complying with new building regulatory standards introduced in June 2023, owing to the sharp peak in Q2 2023 and decline in the following quarter.

In terms of dwellings completed Q2 saw a 12 per cent increase to 42,590 compared to the previous quarter with 34,630.

Q2 completions also represent a 12 per cent increase when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Completions are 13 per cent below their Q1 2021 peak and are 97 per cent above their Q2 2020 trough, which fell dramatically due to restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trends in starts and completions during Q2 2024 were similar up to the period of economic downturn of 2008, when both starts and completions fell.

From 2009, starts began to recover and during the following three years both series converged and levelled out, before reaching their lowest level in the June quarter 2020.

Following a sharp uptick in the September quarter 2020, starts have been more volatile, peaking in the June quarter 2023 and then falling sharply in the second half of 2023.

In August, Angela Rayner unveiled new mandatory housing targets for all councils in England to meet Labour’s targeted 1.5 million homes. 

The move was welcomed by industry body The Home Builders Federation, who previously criticised the current state of the planning system.

The housing minister also laid out plans to allow for more building by reclassifying low-quality green belt land as the ‘grey belt’, and launched a new “Homes Accelerator” aimed at unlocking up to 300,000 new homes.

Neil Jefferson, HBF chief executive, said: “The scale of the government’s housing ambition has given hope to the home building industry that stands ready to increase supply and tackle the country’s housing shortage.”

Note on figures

The figures are based on building control inspection data submitted to the department by local authorities, the National House Building Council (NHBC) and other independent approved building control inspectors. 

In October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) became the Building Control Authority for all higher-risk buildings in England. 

Higher-risk buildings are defined as new residential buildings that are over 18 metres or 7 storeys with at least 2 residential units, and hospitals and care homes that meet the same height threshold.

Data from the BSR on how many starts and completions of housing units it has inspected or certified for building control purposes since its creation are not yet included in these statistics. 

As such, the figures for October 2023 to June 2024 may undercount starts and completions to some extent .

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