Britain's housebuilding ambitions are facing a serious reality check, with construction falling to its lowest level in decades and warnings that the Government's flagship target of 1.5 million new homes is increasingly out of reach. As it currently stands, the Government is on course to deliver just 806,000 new homes by the next election.
Colin Cole, Chief Executive of Lioncourt Homes and member of the R&B Housebuilders Forum, joined Britain Remade on ITV News to set out the scale of the challenge, appearing alongside Lloyds, Chief Executive Charlie Nunn and Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
The programme identified the barriers that are stalling delivery: affordability constraints are shutting first-time buyers out of the market entirely. Second, persistently high interest rates are dampening both buyer demand and developer confidence. Third, and perhaps most critically, the planning system remains too slow, too costly, and too unpredictable for housebuilders to operate at the scale the country needs.
The figures paint a stark picture. To meet the Government's 1.5 million homes target, 44,850 planning applications would need to be submitted every single month. Yet in 2025, the highest monthly total recorded was just 24,304 — barely half the required rate. Planning applications have, in the words of industry insiders, 'dropped off a cliff.'
At the current pace, the Government is on track to deliver only 806,000 new homes by the next election, falling nearly 700,000 short of its pledge.
While ministers have promised to simplify and reform the planning system, meaningful change has been painfully slow to filter through to ground level, where developers are making decisions about whether and where to build. Until the system is genuinely overhauled, Britain's housing shortage looks set to deepen.
Watch the clip here.
