New home completions down 13% in 2025

The figures reveal significant year-on-year falls, with all-sector completions down 13% and starts down 6% compared with 2024.

The private sector accounted for the majority of activity, completing 13,725 homes and starting work on 11,929. The social sector completed 3,611 homes and started 3,070.

Excluding 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted building activity, private sector completions were the lowest since 2017 and starts the lowest since 2013. For social housing, the picture was bleaker still, with completions the lowest since 2014, whilst starts were the lowest since records in this data series began in 1997.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme also recorded sharp annual declines, with completions falling 25%, starts down 15%, and approvals down 9%. In total, 6,289 affordable homes were completed in 2025, alongside 5,856 starts and 5,833 approvals. There were signs of recovery in the second half of the year as approvals rose 58% and starts rose 21% in the final six months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.

Since the programme’s 110,000 affordable homes target was set, with a deadline of 2032, 32,479 homes have been delivered as of December 2025. Of these, 77% are social rent (25,016 homes), 15% affordable rent (4,750 homes), and 8% affordable home ownership (2,713 homes), leaving just under 78,000 homes still required in the remaining seven years.