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The government may end up failing to meet its flagship housebuilding target—not because it didn’t work hard to get the job done, but because of it.

Labour’s target of 1.5 million new homes by the next election is looking shakier by the week.

BBC Verify has confirmed that the number of new homes completed actually fell during Labour’s first year in office.

Just 201,000 homes were registered with Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) in the 12 months to June 2025—an eight per cent drop on the year before.¹

Planning applications have surged by nearly 50 per cent in some regions, suggesting developers are interested—but experts say it could take an entire parliamentary term before those translate into actual buildings.²

Meanwhile, government plans to speed up approvals using AI tools and fast-track ‘grey belt’ and station-adjacent developments are raising alarm bells.³

Good intentions may be there—but the risks are growing fast.

The real danger: quality and suitability

As Vox Political revealed previously, the combination of top-down targets, staff shortages in planning departments, and a lack of skilled tradespeople raises a very real concern: that houses will be built badly and in the wrong places.⁴

Yes, Labour has announced 12 new towns with schools, transport, health centres and 40 per cent affordable housing.

But in cases like Tempsford in Bedfordshire, local people have warned that these plans are out of scale and lacking in detail.⁵

In urban areas, the picture is even bleaker.

Cities with the greatest demand—London, Manchester, Leeds—are predicted to fall far short of their targets, despite reforms intended to boost density near transport links.⁶

Build it faster, break it worse?

The government says it’s taking “bold action” and that this is “just the beginning”. But without major improvements in:

• Infrastructure coordination

• Skilled labour availability

• Enforcement of quality standards

…then pushing faster will only lead to badly-built homes, badly-located, that don’t meet real local need.

And that’s the irony: in trying to go too fast, Labour may fall even further behind.

Sources

¹ BBC Verify: “New homes in England fall during Labour’s first year” (29 July 2025)
² Planning Portal data via BBC: 49% rise in planning applications (Jan–June 2025)
³ The Guardian: “Labour to prioritise building near train stations” (26 Jan 2025)
⁴ Vox Political: The Wrong Homes in the Wrong Places (July 2025)
⁵ The Guardian: “Tempsford town plans raise local opposition” (26 July 2025)
⁶ Urbanist Architecture: Housing delivery gap analysis (June 2025)

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