Which areas are building more homes than last year? – Heatmap

The number of new homes delivered per year has been increasing. 

In 2012-2013 there were 124,722 homes added. By 2019-20? That had gone up to 243,770 – an increase of 100,000 homes per year. 

This is partly the result of housing delivery targets, planning reform, and the efforts of developers, planners, and local authorities. 

But it hasn’t been an even increase across the country.  

In this post you’ll find out which areas are accelerating their housing delivery, and which areas are falling behind.

This is the data for net new homes added. The data below displays the percent change between net homes added in the financial year 2018-19 (so April 2018 to April 2019), and the financial year 2019-20. 

Notes on The Data

Two quick notes:

• This looks at net homes added. It takes into account demolitions, conversions, and new homes built. 
• The data ends in April 2020, before the effects of Covid-19 had hit construction.

The Data

Biggest increases

Here are the local authorities with the largest increases in net homes added compared to the previous year.

Biggest decreases

Here are the local authorities with the largest decreases in net homes added compared to the previous year.

Will these changes hold steady?

For those areas that have increased – Cannock Chase is on track to continue performing well with a £12.9 million housing investment project that is set to deliver 160 homes across six sites (100 of which is social housing).  

Tower Hamlets additionally won a £17.6 million bonus from government for delivering the most affordable housing in the country between October 2019 and October 2020. 

However, in 2020 they were at 74% of their housing targets. Will the presumption consequence of the Housing Delivery Test mean housing delivery will increase even further?

On the other hand, for local authorities not doing well, there could be a variety of obstacles – local plans being out of date, the performance of local planning departments etc.

While Southend-on-Sea last had its local plan updated in 2007 (and stands at 36% of their housing targets), there is a £500 million redevelopment proposal in the works that should provide 1,669 homes, with 512 of them being affordable. Hopefully this will be enough to turn the local authority around. 

But we still need more homes

With the country needing more homes, whether a local authority is increasing their housing delivery, or decreasing – the opportunity is still there for developers.

A common obstacle for new housing? The planning process. With stretched planning departments, and out-of-date local plans, the planning process can be a big challenge for a project.

Permitted Development allows developers to sidestep a lot of the planning process. Recent changes such as Right to Rise and Class E to Resi also provide a wealth of new opportunities for developers. 

Check out our Permitted Development Rights guide to learn more about the process, and how to take advantage of the opportunity before you miss out.