There were 26,959 new homes registered to be built in Q1 2026, down 6% on Q1 2025 (28,715), according to the latest figures released by the National House Building Council (NHBC).
The data also reveals that private sector registrations were down 7% to 18,072, compared to 19,439 in Q1 2025, while the rental and affordable sector saw a 4% fall, with 8,887 new homes registered versus 9,276 in Q1 2025.
Daniel Pearce, corporate strategy director at NHBC, said: “Our latest figures indicate house builders are taking a cautious approach to registering new plots as fragile consumer confidence, affordability challenges and global economic uncertainty continue to impact demand.
“It’s a perfect storm – the market is subdued, mortgage rates are rising and cost pressures on households are in full effect, exacerbated by geopolitics and recent conflicts. Resolving affordability challenges for homebuyers remains the key to unlocking demand. The market is crying out for some targeted stimulus, such as a new buyer incentive, to help those who need it most get on the housing ladder.
“At present, there is little incentive for developers to accelerate building. Easing certain regulatory requirements, at a time when other costs are rising beyond their control, is a lever that could be pulled to support home builders, particularly SMEs. Accelerating planning reforms is also crucial to help house builders deliver high-quality new homes at volume. The impact of the recent planning changes has yet to be felt.”
Across the UK, eight of the 12 regions recorded a fall in registrations in Q1 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.
The sharpest declines were seen in Northern Ireland (-44%), London (-37%) and Wales (-21%). In contrast, activity increased in the North West (+27%), North East (+15%), Yorkshire and the Humber (+7%) and the West Midlands (+2%).
By property type, registrations fell across all main house types apart from detached homes. However, the uplift in detached activity was marginal, with just 62 additional detached plots registered in Q1 2026 compared with Q1 2025.
Pearce added: “The wider economic fallout from the Middle East conflict will impact new home registrations as developers face rising costs that could slow down land purchases, reduce activity on site and create additional barriers to the government’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes.
“Looking at options to support buyer demand, particularly for first-time buyers and those who need it most, is crucial, whilst reducing controllable costs to home builders, such as regulatory requirements and planning, can stimulate supply. Both demand and supply levers are needed if we are to get close to 1.5 million new homes.”
This is all so tedious. Housing registrations could be given a significant boost simply by reducing the cost and risk of achieving planning permission.
Planning remains the single biggest obstacle to development. It is both unpredictable and hugely expensive. Easing planning restrictions is not necessarily the answer, much of the guidance has evolved over many years and is generally intended to protect communities and ensure appropriate development.
The real issue is the amount of costly work that must be completed before a planning application can even be submitted: flood risk assessments, ecology reports, archaeology surveys and more. Even after all of this expense, an application can still be refused at committee despite being recommended for approval.
In effect, anyone looking to develop a small or medium-sized site is gambling with a small fortune. This stifles exactly the kind of development that underpins the regeneration of town centres and encourages lower-impact schemes.
Almost everything should be capable of receiving outline planning approval first. Achieving planning permission would not guarantee that a scheme could ultimately be built — developers would still need to satisfy detailed conditions — but it would dramatically reduce upfront risk and help stimulate new home building beyond just the large volume housebuilders.
Frankly, local planning authorities could probably even charge more for applications if it meant departments were properly funded and decisions became more reliable and commercially realistic.
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