They promised 1.5 million homes. Year one delivered 208,600.
They promised 1.5 million homes. Year one delivered 208,600, while record numbers of families, and children, live in temporary housing you pay for.
9 figures, each with its official source.
Pledge: 1.5m homes this parliament ≈ 370,000/yr (the NPPF housing-need figure). Year one delivered ~56% of that rate: down 6% on the prior year: leaving 160,000+ homes to catch up later. Next update Nov 2026.
Down 6%, moving away from, not towards, the pace needed. Honest counterpoint: STARTS are recovering (33,960 in Q1 2026, +18% on a year earlier), though MHCLG notes changed Building Safety Regulator reporting flatters part of the rise. Building-control count; undercounts total supply.
Near the record set in September 2025 and up 5% on a year earlier, though the quarter saw the first small fall (−0.4%) since 2022. 176,130 dependent children were in temporary accommodation, around record levels; 64% of TA households include children.
Up 28.6% in real terms in ONE year; the cost falling on councils' own budgets after housing-benefit subsidy (gross TA spend is substantially higher, ~£2.8bn on sector analysis). Total net homelessness spend rose 21.7% to £2.2bn.
Up for the fourth year running (+3%), above the previous 2017 peak and 171% higher than 2010, against a manifesto commitment to get back on track to ending homelessness. Single-night snapshot; understates the numbers over a year. London fell 3%; the rest of England rose 5%.
GENUINE IMPROVEMENT: the lowest ratio since 2015, as earnings (+25% since 2021) outpaced house prices (+5%). Still far above the ~5× historically classed as affordable; 33 local areas remain above 12×.
Rent inflation is slowing (from ~9% peaks in 2024) but compounds onto record levels: average English rent £1,442/month, up £48 in a year. Highest regional rate: North East (5.9%).
England LOST more social-rent homes than it gained again: Right to Buy sales (7,278 council homes, +7%) and demolitions outstripped new supply, and the net loss worsened from −1,687. Honest counterpoint: new social-rent completions were the highest since 2013-14 (12,198); total affordable delivery 64,762 (+1%).
Nine years after Grenfell, only 38% of monitored 11m+ buildings with unsafe cladding are fully remediated, and MHCLG estimates the monitored set is only 61–76% of all buildings expected to need work. Target: all high-rises in government schemes fixed by end-2029.