Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Chart of the Day
8 November 2022

Housebuilding is far below the Conservatives’ manifesto target

The Tories pledged to build 300,000 homes every year but just 204,530 were built in the most recent period.

By Giacomo Boscaini-Gilroy

The UK government is falling far short of its target of building 300,000 homes every year, new figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown. 

The data shows that housebuilding has slowly increased since 2012-13 after many years of decline. But only 204,530 were built over 2021-22, the latest financial year for which there is data.


If housebuilding were to continue to rise at the rate recorded from 2012-13 to 2019-20, it will have taken around eight years to reach the 300,000 target, longer than the five-year parliament available to meet it. In practice, the most recent two financial years saw total housebuilding fall by around 16,000 year on year. 

The housebuilding target was outlined in the Conservatives’ election-winning 2019 manifesto, a programme Rishi Sunak has pledged to uphold since he became Prime Minister. 

The current housing crisis, which has seen rents reach record highs, means that meeting the target would greatly benefit a market in which housing demand has been significantly outpacing supply. 

Select and enter your email address Your new guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture each weekend - from the New Statesman. A quick and essential guide to domestic politics from the New Statesman's Westminster team. A weekly newsletter helping you understand the global economic slowdown. The New Statesman’s weekly environment email. Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates.
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

[See also: Nurses are still earning less in real terms than in 2010]

Content from our partners
To truly tackle regional disparities, we need a new type of devolution
How smart meters helped a business thrive
The case for sustainable thematic investing

Topics in this article : , , ,