Housing Minister speaks at HBF Planning Conference
Matthew Pennycook has said that the housing sector should “buckle up” for “phase two” of the Government’s plan to deliver 1.5 million new homes.
Speaking at the Home Builders Federation (HBF) Planning Conference, the Housing Minister recognised that there had been a “lull” in Government progress since planning reforms, but said that next steps would focus on a national policy for decision making, the New Towns programme, and site thresholds for SMEs.
The Government also published updated flood risk guidance this week – taking, as Pennycook describes, a “more proportionate, pragmatic approach”.
Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Steve Reed has branded the latest planning approval figures for housing as “unacceptable”.
The figures, released last week, revealed that just 7,000 housing applications were granted planning permission in the three months to 30 June 2025; a -8% drop from the same period last year, and the lowest quarterly figures since records began in 1979.
Reed said: “I will leave no stone unturned to build one and a half million homes so families have the key to a decent home in their hands.
“I’m going to introduce an acceleration package to speed up our planning reforms and get this country building.”
Meanwhile, the HBF urged the Government to intervene in a stagnant London housing market.
In a report titled Mind the Gap, the HBF revealed that only 32,000 homes were completed in the capital in the year to June 2025. London is expected to deliver 440,000 of the Government’s 1.5 million new homes target.
This latest annual figure represents a -12% fall on the previous year, with HBF saying that planning permissions in the city had “nosedived” to their lowest levels since records began in 2006.
Asking prices fall slightly by -1% over the year
The latest house price index for September by Rightmove has revealed a slight 0.4% rise in property values in the month, with the average dwelling costing £370,257.
However, average new seller asking prices are -0.1% below this time last year, driven by London and the south.
And the property firm warned that “jitters” around the Autumn Budget threaten to slow an already underperforming market.
Meanwhile, the latest official house price figures from the Office for National Statistics show that average UK house prices increased by 2.8% to £270,000 in the 12 months to July.
However, this growth is down from 3.6% recorded in the twelve months to June 2025.
Average house prices increased to £292,000 (2.7%) in England, £209,000 (2.0%) in Wales, and £192,000 (3.3%) in Scotland, in the year to July 2025.
Developer and supply chain updates
Barratt Redrow saw increased profit and revenue in its full year, but reported a £1.4bn building defect bill.
During the year to 29 June 2025, the volume developer reported revenue increase of 33.8% to £5.58bn and pre-tax profit growing by 60.5% to £274m.
During the period, the newly-merged company delivered 16,565 total completions, down on previous guidance of 16,800 to 17,200 homes.
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Housebuilder Gleeson reported a “challenging” year, with pre-tax profit falling -17.3% in the year to £20.5m.
However, the firm sold 1,793 homes against 2024’s 1,772, and reservation rates improved to 0.71 per site per week. Excluding bulk sales, this was by 20% on 2024, at 0.53.
Housing View 