Private Housing

Private Housing – Overview

Project-starts, main contract awards and detailed planning approvals all decreased on the preceding three months and previous year.

Adding up to £5,019 million, private housing work starting on-site during the three months to March decreased 40% against the preceding three months and 58% against previous year. Underlying (less than £100 million in value) project-starts, totalling £4,449 million, performed poorly having decreased 39% against the preceding three-month period on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis to stand 50% down on a year ago. Major (£100 million or more) project-starts totalled £570 million a 82% decrease against the preceding three months to stand 81% down on the previous year.

Private housing contract awards totalled £10,898 million during the three months to March, a 9% fall compared with the preceding three months and a 22% decline against the previous year. Underlying contract awards, at £9,748 million, fell 6% (SA) against the preceding three months to stand 14% down on a year ago. Major project contract awards increased 7% during the three-month period but remained 57% down on the previous year.

Private housing detailed planning approvals decreased 6% during the three months to March and previous year to total £10,663 million. Major project detailed planning approvals were strong, having increased 27% against the preceding three months and 73% compared with a year ago to total £2,950 million. Underlying project approvals, at £7,712 million were weak having declined 20% against the preceding three months (SA) and previous year.

Private Housing – Types of Projects Started

Housing work commencing on-site added up to £3,463 million during the three months to March, 53% decline compared with the previous year. The segment accounted for 69% of project-starts during the period.

Apartments accounted for a quarter of the sector, with the value of work starting on-site adding up to £1,244 million. The segment experienced a 71% fall compared with a year ago.

Sheltered housing work starting on-site totalled £311 million, growth of 48% against the previous year to account for 6% of the private housing sector.

Regional Analysis – Project-Starts

London accounted for the greatest proportion of private housing work starting on-site during the three months to March (19%) with the value adding up to £952 million. This was despite the value falling by 71% compared with the previous year. The North West at £841 million was the second most active sector, accounting for 17% of the total. The region followed a similar trend to the capital, declining 31% against 2022 levels.

The South West was another active region to experience a decrease against the previous year. Totalling £561 million, the South West experienced a decrease of 18% against 2022 levels to account for 11% of the total value. No region experienced a growth in project-starts during the period.

Private Housing Project-Starts during the three months to March

 Regional Analysis – Detailed Planning Approvals

Yorkshire & the Humber accounted for the greatest proportion of detailed planning approvals (16%), with the value adding up to £1,655 million during the three months to March. Yorkshire experienced the sharpest growth of any region during the three months to March, with the value of planning approvals increasing 168% against 2022 levels. The South East, accounting for 13% of the sector, also experienced a relatively strong period with approvals rising 17% against the previous year to total £1,392 million. The North West accounted for 12% of the total value, having experienced 13% growth against the previous year to total £1,228 million.

London was the second most active region, accounting for 15% of the total value. Despite this, the value of planning approvals fell 39% against the previous year to total £1,585 million.  The East Midlands, at £719 million experienced the sharpest decrease of any region (-45%) to account for 7% of the total value.

Private housing Detailed Planning Approvals during the three months to March

Forecast Construction-Starts for Private Housing

Note: Underlying projects are schemes with a construction value of £250,000 to £100 million.  Forecast updated in April 2023 p – provisional, f – forecast.
Source: Glenigan