2024 New Home Completions Drop 7%

THE NUMBER of new homes completed in 2024 dropped by 7% to 124,144, from the 2023 figure of 133,611.

However, there were 104,232 new homes registered to be built in 2024, broadly in line with 2023 (105,071), the latest National House Building Council (NHBC) figures show.

Steve Wood, CEO at NHBC

NHBC CEO Steve Wood commented: “Recent announcements from the Chancellor on infrastructure and planning reform are welcome and with easing inflation, there are some encouraging signs for better house building growth conditions in 2025.”

New Home Completions

Of the 124,144 new homes completed in 2024, 45,824 were in the rental and affordable sector, 2% down on 2023 (46,542) and the second highest figure ever recorded by NHBC. Private sector completions saw a decline of 10% on the previous year (87,069) with 78,320 plots confirmed as ready to be occupied.

Steve Wood added: “It is encouraging to see a high number of new home completions in the affordable sector. If ambitions in new build housing are to be met, a mix of tenures is essential for accelerating housing delivery. Housing associations and local authorities eagerly await details of new investment in the Spring Spending Review. Private sale will continue to be the largest sector but affordable, social, and private build to rent tenures also need to be significantly scaled up.”

Registrations Up

Private sector registrations in 2024 were up 11% to 68,987, compared to 62,291 in 2023. In the rental and affordable sector, the cost of remediating existing housing stock constrained development budgets, with registrations down 18% in 2024 to 35,245.

Across the UK, seven out of 12 regions saw a rise in registrations in 2024 compared to 2023, with the biggest increases in North West & Merseyside (+17%), West Midlands (+16%) and Scotland (+15%). Registrations were significantly down in London (-48%), linked to financial challenges for housing associations and building safety costs on tall buildings.

Semi-detached homes were the most registered house type in 2024 at 34,778, closely followed by detached homes at 34,706. Year-on-year, there was growth of +16% in detached and +11% in semi-detached homes, while apartments (-29%), bungalows (-11%) and terraced properties (-10%) all experienced a decline, compared to 2023.

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