Housing starts in Wales fall by a quarter to record low as planning delays blamed

Community Housing Cymru (CHC), which represents Welsh housing associations, said high material costs, supply chain disruption, a reduction in specialist and skilled staff, and “complex approval processes” were to blame. 

The Westminster government is currently pushing through planning reforms which will apply to Wales. However, as planning is a devolved matter, the Senedd must consent for the changes to apply in the nation.

The new figures also revealed a 3% year-on-year drop in completions across all tenures, to 4,631. Handovers by housing associations were up by 9% year on year, to 1,057, representing just under a quarter (23%) of all completions.

Of the rest, nearly three-quarters (73%) were private sector homes and 5% council properties. Around four out of 10 completions (39%) were three-bedroom homes. Close to a quarter (23%) were homes with four or more bedrooms. 

Mr Harris added: “This downward trend is now entrenched and likely to continue unless urgent action is taken by the Welsh government to address the many barriers in the way of delivering the homes that Wales needs.”

Rhea Stevens, director of external affairs at CHC, said: “Despite significant headwinds, collectively we are making progress on tackling the housing emergency.

“To maintain momentum, we need to protect investment in social homes, both in the forthcoming budget and through the next Programme for Government.”

Asked to comment on the figures, a Welsh government spokesperson said: “Delivering more homes is one of our top priorities and we are taking action to deliver as many as possible, including through extending our Help to Buy Wales scheme and providing funding support through the Wales Residential Property Fund.

“We are also providing record levels of investment in social housing across Wales, with funding of more than £2bn this Senedd term, including £411m in 2025-26 alone.” 

Earlier this year, the Welsh government said it had made £90m in low-interest loans available to social landlords to build more homes and improve existing stock. A loan scheme was introduced in 2023-24, with around £75m in loans awarded.

The spokesperson said the government also recognised there were limitations to the accuracy of the tenure breakdown in the figures, which they said was a “UK-wide issue”.

Other areas of the UK have been dealing with similar problems. This week it emerged that there were no new-build social housing starts in Northern Ireland in the second quarter of this year. And just 347 new affordable homes have been started in London since April, according to the latest figures.