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Two large Labour-run council districts in Greater London have seen housebuilding plummet in the past year, latest figures suggest, as the challenge set by the government for new homes across the country grows.
Ahead of coming into government, Sir Keir Starmer announced his party would build 1.5 million new homes by 2029. It is a goal Angela Rayner, who resigned as housing secretary on Friday, said there would be “no excuses” not to meet.
However, government estimates suggest that at least 186,000 additional dwellings have been delivered since Labour was elected, up to June this year – over half of the 300,000 required to achieve Labour’s bold manifesto pledge.
This week, new housing secretary Steve Reed was expected to bring together developers and house builders in a bid to speed up developments.
Meanwhile, separate data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this month gives an indication of the number of homes completed at a local authority level in the year up to March, compared to the year before.
Analysis of the figures provides a list of the council areas with the steepest falls in new properties.
These figures are likely to be an undercount of supply as they cover most, but not all, large house-building projects. The data is still considered a “timely leading indicator of housing supply”, says the ONS, based on data from building control inspections by local authorities and approved inspectors.
The ONS does warn that local figures can be volatile due to an uneven distribution of house building, both geographically and over time.
At the top of the list was the Labour-run Islington council, with a 90.2 per cent reduction in new homes completed, according to the data.
The council, where more than 16,000 people are on a waiting list for social housing, also saw the number of homes started on plummet between the two periods.
A spokesperson said it had the second most densely populated borough in England, which presented “significant challenges”. They also blamed rising costs for construction and “complex building regulations”
They added: “Despite the challenges we are not giving up. Hundreds more Islington residents now live in affordable, high-quality homes and communities have been transformed with new community centres, play parks and landscaped grounds.
“We have continued to build with 615 new genuinely affordable council homes across 40 locations, benefitting more than 2,500 residents. We currently have 112 under construction, with over 500 more in the pipeline.”
Also in the top six worst areas for a slump in completed homes were the Labour-run councils of Hounslow, which came fourth with a 78 per cent fall and Luton, which was sixth with a 76.6 per cent drop.
Hung Harlow council was third with an 83 per cent drop (470 to 80), and Slough council with a 77.3 per cent reduction (220 to 50).
In a bid to meet Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament, ministers have been pushing to introduce new measures, including the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which includes planning reforms to make it hard to reject developments.
However, there are one million planning permission applications for homes that have gone unbuilt in England, with 250,000 in London, a debate in the Hord of Lords heard in June.
Housebuilder Bellway claimed it was continuing to face delays to planning decisions due to the time local councils were taking to adopt new local plans. Nevertheless, the company said it had sold more homes over the past year, with 8,749 sales completed compared to 7,654 the year before.
A spokesperson for Mr Reed told The Independent: “These figures are not good enough. They show the scale of the housing crisis we have inherited after the previous Tory government scrapped mandatory housing targets.
“The Housing Secretary will leave no stone unturned to build 1.5 million homes as part of our Plan for Change.”
