Home building body calls for urgent investment to avoid housing delivery collapse

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) blames a lack of support for buyers, excessive bureaucracy and unrealistic affordable housing demands for “strangling” attempts to deliver desperately-needed new homes.

The HBF asks the Mayor of London to accelerate the pledge to assess green belt land for development review and lower the affordable housing fast-track threshold to 25% to unlock stalled developments.

The report, titled ‘Mind the Gap’, notes that 30,000 homes were completed in London in the year to June 2025, down 12% from the previous year and significantly below the 2019/20 peak despite the ambitious targets put in place by the Labour Government.

Also highlighted is the trend of first-time buyers needing to save half their spare income for over 13 years just to afford a deposit, with prices hitting 7 times average earnings, and for young adults (22-29), a first home costs 17 times their net annual salary.

The report identifies several further factors behind the capital’s declining housing delivery. It claims lengthy planning delays remain a key barrier, exacerbated by the complexity of the current London Plan, which includes 88 separate residential policies on top of local and national rules.

This makes the process “more costly and time-consuming, with many developments rendered unviable.”

The report additionally calls for a more efficient London Plan, with local energy policies brought into line with national regulations, and exemptions introduced for smaller schemes to reduce unnecessary burdens.

Neil Jefferson, Chief Executive of the Home Builders Federation, said: “The findings of Mind the Gap should be a major wake-up call for Government and the Mayor of London.

“The capital needs an urgent overhaul of housing policy if it is to support the housing needs of Londoners. London Plan policies combined with additional government taxes on new homes, onerous processes to get higher-rise schemes approved and challenging market conditions have effectively made London a no-go zone for housing investment.”

“Intervention is desperately needed to support first-time buyers, with Londoners facing the biggest barriers to home ownership in the country.”

“If Government is to stand a chance at making its aspirational 1.5 million homes target a reality, ministers must prioritise action to reverse the alarming decline in housing delivery across the capital.”

The HBF’s full report is available here.

Harry Rodd