Housebuilding must “more than double” to deliver 1.5 million new homes – NHBC

Current housebuilding volumes must “more than” double to meet Labour’s target of 1.5 million homes in this parliament, according to the latest NHBC data.

New home registrations fell 23% to 29,281 in Q2 2024 against the same quarter last year, the new homes warranty and insurance provider’s statistics show. Of these, 20,502 were for the private sector, down 13% on Q2 2023.

Those for the rental and affordable sector, which has fared better during difficult times, dropped 39% to 8,779 new homes.

Meanwhile, new home completions were down 6% during the quarter year-on-year, at 33,847. Private sector completions decreased 10% to 22,135 homes. Those for the rental and affordable industry nudged up 1.6% to 11,712 homes.

At the same time, NHBC noted that registrations and completions were “tracking positively” quarter-on-quarter, up 34% and 29% respectively. In Q2 2024, private sector registrations improved 55% on Q1 to 20,502 new homes.

But while this was encouraging, NHBC said this quarterly rate would need to more than double to meet the new government's 1.5 million new homes pledge over the next five years.

Steve Wood, NHBC’s ceo, said: “We welcome the new government’s policy to deliver 1.5 million homes over …