Just 904 new homes registered in London in past 3 months
The number of new home registrations in London has more than halved as firms shy away from building in the capital.
Just 904 new homes were registered in the second quarter of 2025, down from 2,191 in the second quarter of 2024, according to the National House Building Council (NHBC).
London continues to be affected by the new building safety regime for high rise buildings and low building rates from housing associations.
The capital is “by some accounts” the most expensive city in the world to build in, according to the GLA.
Post-Grenfell fire safety regulations have added more loops to an already-loopy system, with any building above seven stories now required to have a second staircase.
A community Infrastructure Levy, Section 106 agreements and planning fees, plus still-high interest rates, have pushed many developments past the point of viability, and Labour’s changes to the planning system are not likely to solve these issues in the capital – particularly when you take the land prices into account.
The number of affordable homes underway in the capital, too, has fallen far short of expectations as tight regulations and cost pressures make sites unviable.
The Greater London Authority has so far completed 871 homes under the 2021-2026 Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), according to its annual housing report.
This is just over five per cent of the current housebuilding target, which has a deadline of March 2030.
The GLA said that more than 12,000 of the 17,800 builds the capital needs to start to hit its 2030 target are not under way, but that they will need to be started by next year if there’s a hope of hitting the goal.
Steve Wood, chief executive at NHBC, said that he was optimistic about the UK-wide market despite issues.
“As planning and land restraints are increasingly unblocked, mortgage rates ease and the Government sustains a focus on new home delivery… we remain optimistic about the longer-term,” he said.