Housing secretary promises ‘acceleration package’ to speed up planning reforms as new data shows lowest approvals for at least 45 years

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Source: MHCLG / Flickr

New housing secretary Steve Reed has branded the latest planning approval figures for housing as “unacceptable” as he re-iterated his pledge to speed up housebuilding.

The latest official figures show around 7,000 applications for housing were granted permission in the three months to 30 June . This is 8% down on year-on-year and the lowest three-month figure since records began in 1979.

The number of residential planning applications granted in the year to 30 June totalled 28,700 -  down 9% year-on-year.

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.”

Reed repeated his Trump-inspired pledge to ”build, baby build”, and stressed when he said this earlier in the week he “meant it”.

> Also read: What does the appointment of Steve Reed as new housing secretary mean for housebuilding?

He said: “These reforms will unleash the biggest era of house building in our country’s history, and this government will go further and faster to get Britain building.”

Reed did not announce new policies or say what the “acceleration package” is likely to consist of. Last week he promised the announcement of new measures in the coming weeks and months.

The comments come amid evidence of a slowdown in housebuilding activity.

In a separate dataset, Glenigan said project starts in the three months to August were 36% down compared to the same period in 2024. It said “weakness spans projects of all sizes, with major and underlying schemes both affected, with the residential sector hit hardest.”

The Home Builders Federation on Monday warned housing delivery in London is in “major crisis”, pointing to multiple indicators including starts, permissions and energy performance certificate issuances. It is calling for government intervention.

Watch the video of Steve Reed’s comments

 

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