Housebuilding activity picked up at the end of 2025 but overall housing delivery in England remains under pressure, reinforcing the continued importance of development and bridging finance to keep projects moving.
Figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government show an estimated 191,300 net additional homes were delivered between April 2025 and mid-March 2026, with 342,100 homes completed since July 2024.
However, annual supply remains below previous levels, with 208,600 net additional dwellings in 2024-25, down 6% on the year before, while the net increase in council tax-banded properties fell 16% to 182,880.
There were signs of stronger activity in the final quarter of the year.
Between October and December 2025, 37,300 homes were started, up 23% on the previous quarter and 24% higher year-on-year, partly reflecting reforms to the Building Safety Regulator designed to accelerate approvals.
Completions also increased to 36,720, up 9% on the quarter but only 1% higher than a year earlier.
Energy Performance Certificate lodgements, often used as a proxy for completions, rose 7% year-on-year in the quarter, although the annual total remained 3% lower, pointing to a mixed pipeline.
NOT AN EASY MARKET
Neil Leitch (main picture, inset), managing director of development finance at Hampshire Trust Bank, thinks that the improvement in starts does not signal an easy market.
He says: “Despite this increase, it does little to change the underlying reality of a market still under sustained pressure. Developers are still operating in a more disciplined and less forgiving market, where planning delays, tighter margins and funding uncertainty continue to shape how quickly schemes move from approval to delivery.”
“Viability and timing remain the key constraints.”
“The key issue is not demand, but viability and timing… margins come under pressure, actively eroding viability and reducing the flexibility developers have to absorb further cost movement once delivery is underway.”
Leitch says that developers are increasingly phasing projects and engaging lenders earlier, while labour shortages and cost volatility continue to slow delivery.
“Confidence remains central… the value of reliable funding and direct engagement between developers and decision-makers becomes increasingly important. However, the margin for error is narrower, and delivery is likely to remain constrained in the near term.”
