The share of new-build homes in Britain’s housing market has fallen to its lowest level in more than a year, with industry figures warning that tighter post-Grenfell regulations and labour shortages are holding back supply.
Analysis by Property Inspect shows that new-builds now account for just 5.9% of all residential listings across Great Britain, down 0.1 points since the second quarter of 2025 and 0.4 points year-on-year.
The decline comes despite government pledges to accelerate housebuilding to meet demand and ease the affordability crisis.
Labour has committed to a major planning overhaul and a target of 1.5 million new homes over the course of the parliament.
REGIONAL OUTLOOK
Regionally, Aberdeen recorded the highest proportion of new-builds, at 12.9% of listings, followed by Liverpool (8.9 %), Edinburgh (7.4%), Swansea (5.6%) and Manchester (5.6%). Aberdeen also led quarterly and annual growth, rising 1.8 points since Q2 and 2.3 points year-on-year.
Only six cities reported any quarterly improvement. Apart from Aberdeen, they were Leicester, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Bournemouth and London.
Yet in half of those locations, modest quarterly gains failed to offset longer-term decline: London’s new-build share is still 0.3 points lower than a year ago, Cardiff and Bournemouth each 0.2 points lower.
REGULATORY IMPACT
Property Inspect says the slowdown cannot be explained solely by fewer schemes starting on site.
New regulatory checks under the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), established after the Grenfell Tower fire, are delaying the point at which completed homes can be legally occupied or marketed.
Developers report shortages of qualified surveyors and assessors to sign off projects, extending the time between completion and sale and “masking” true delivery levels. The problem has been compounded by a wider scarcity of skilled contractors and by investor caution over unpredictable build-to-sell timelines.
Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, operations director at Property Inspect, says: “Britain’s housing shortfall isn’t only about how many homes we build – it’s also about how quickly completed homes can reach the market.
“Until regulatory capacity catches up with policy ambition, supply statistics will continue to understate delivery and overstate decline.”
